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Private Virtual Tree Networks for Secure Multi-Tenant Environments Based on the VIRGO Overlay Network

Lican Huang

TL;DR

<3-5 sentence high-level summary> This paper introduces Private Virtual Tree Networks (PVTNs), a cryptographic extension built on the VIRGO structured overlay to create private, hierarchical trust domains for multi-tenant environments. PVTNs bind organizational hierarchies to public-key identities via signed delegations, ensuring confidentiality, non-enumerability, and scalable management without relying on global PKIs. The approach supports join, delegation, revocation, and action authorization within tenant boundaries, and enables controlled cross-tenant collaboration through explicit bridges, all while leveraging VIRGO for scalable routing. The framework emphasizes privacy-preserving proofs, auditability, and resilience against common threats, offering a practical pathway for secure, dynamic, and private collaboration on open infrastructures.

Abstract

Hierarchical organization is a fundamental structure in real-world society, where authority and responsibility are delegated from managers to subordinates. The VIRGO network (Virtual Hierarchical Overlay Network for scalable grid computing) provides a scalable overlay for organizing distributed systems but lacks intrinsic security and privacy mechanisms. This paper proposes Private Virtual Tree Networks (PVTNs), a cryptographically enforced extension that leverages the VIRGO overlay to mirror real organizational hierarchies. In PVTNs, join requests are encrypted with the manager's public key to ensure confidentiality, while membership authorization is enforced through manager-signed delegation certificates. Public keys are treated as organizational secrets and are disclosed only within direct manager-member relationships, resulting in a private, non-enumerable virtual tree. Our work demonstrates, through the system model, protocols, security analysis, and design rationale, that PVTNs achieve scalability, dynamic management, and strong security guarantees without relying on global public key infrastructures.

Private Virtual Tree Networks for Secure Multi-Tenant Environments Based on the VIRGO Overlay Network

TL;DR

<3-5 sentence high-level summary> This paper introduces Private Virtual Tree Networks (PVTNs), a cryptographic extension built on the VIRGO structured overlay to create private, hierarchical trust domains for multi-tenant environments. PVTNs bind organizational hierarchies to public-key identities via signed delegations, ensuring confidentiality, non-enumerability, and scalable management without relying on global PKIs. The approach supports join, delegation, revocation, and action authorization within tenant boundaries, and enables controlled cross-tenant collaboration through explicit bridges, all while leveraging VIRGO for scalable routing. The framework emphasizes privacy-preserving proofs, auditability, and resilience against common threats, offering a practical pathway for secure, dynamic, and private collaboration on open infrastructures.

Abstract

Hierarchical organization is a fundamental structure in real-world society, where authority and responsibility are delegated from managers to subordinates. The VIRGO network (Virtual Hierarchical Overlay Network for scalable grid computing) provides a scalable overlay for organizing distributed systems but lacks intrinsic security and privacy mechanisms. This paper proposes Private Virtual Tree Networks (PVTNs), a cryptographically enforced extension that leverages the VIRGO overlay to mirror real organizational hierarchies. In PVTNs, join requests are encrypted with the manager's public key to ensure confidentiality, while membership authorization is enforced through manager-signed delegation certificates. Public keys are treated as organizational secrets and are disclosed only within direct manager-member relationships, resulting in a private, non-enumerable virtual tree. Our work demonstrates, through the system model, protocols, security analysis, and design rationale, that PVTNs achieve scalability, dynamic management, and strong security guarantees without relying on global public key infrastructures.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 102 sections, 32 equations, 4 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Works
  3. Structured Overlay Networks
  4. Hierarchical Authorization Systems
  5. Authorization and Trust Management
  6. Decentralized Trust and Identity
  7. Security in Hierarchical Tree Networks
  8. Decentralized Identity and Privacy
  9. Threat Models
  10. Summary: Distinctive Features of PVTNs
  11. Private Virtual Tree Network Architecture
  12. Assumptions
  13. System Model and Notation
  14. Nodes and Keys
  15. Node Types
  16. ...and 87 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Hierarchical leaf upgrade flow diagram .
  • Figure 2: Private Virtual Tree Network architecture with multiple members under each manager.
  • Figure 3: Multi-PVTN architecture over VIRGO overlay with color-coded legend. Revocation propagation, subtree key isolation, delegation certificates, and replay protection are illustrated. This figure clarifies trust, security, and multi-tenancy properties.
  • Figure 4: Cross-Tenant of PVTNs