PhD Dissertation Proposal by Ashok KASTHURI | A Large-Scale Investigation of Design Patterns, Security Risks, Policy requirements in Multi-Token Smart Contracts

A Large-Scale Investigation of Design Patterns, Security Risks, Policy requirements in Multi-Token Smart Contracts

ABOUT THE TALK

This work presents a comprehensive study of Blockchain Ethereum smart contracts, focusing on the classification, security analysis, and policy-based mitigation of vulnerabilities across millions of real-world deployments. TargetBlock, a static analysis engine that classifies contracts by ERC standard compliance and reveals multi-label ERC adoption trends. This study further explores security challenges in batch transfer and multi-token operations, introducing tools like BATCHAUDIT and MT-AUDIT to detect bugs, vulnerabilities in ERC contracts. A particular focus is given to signature-related exploits, especially domain misuse and replay attacks, detected via the SigCheck tool. Finally, Policy Shield, a proposed on-chain governance framework that enforces security through automated detection, whitelisting, blacklisting, and progressive penalties for counterfeited digital arts. This work bridges low-level bytecode analysis with ecosystem-level policy design, offering a roadmap toward a safer and more accountable smart contract ecosystem.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY

Ashok Kasthuri is a third-year PhD candidate in Software Engineering at Singapore Management University, advised by Prof. Lingxiao Jiang. He brings industry experience and currently focuses on large-scale smart contract analysis, Ethereum token standards, and blockchain security. His research contributions include ERC classification frameworks, detection of multi-token and signature-related vulnerabilities through source code and bytecode analysis, and policy-driven mitigation strategies for decentralized ecosystems.