Model procurement for industrial cyber-physical systems using cryptographic performance attestation

Bojič Burgos, Jay (avtor), Sedlar, Urban (avtor), Pustišek, Matevž (avtor)

Integrating third-party Machine Learning (ML) models into industrial Operational Technology (OT) creates a procurement deadlock: operators cannot verify vendor performance claims without sharing representative evaluation data with vendors, while vendors refuse to reveal proprietary model weights before purchase, rendering traditional safeguards such as Non-Disclosure Agreements technically unenforceable. This paper introduces a framework combining Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) with smart contracts to enable trust-minimized, cryptographically verifiable competitive model procurement in Industrial Cyber-Physical Systems (ICPS). Vendors cryptographically prove that their model outperforms a legacy baseline without disclosing proprietary weights, a process we term cryptographic performance attestation, while the on-chain workflow automates escrow, proof verification, and best-vendor selection with arbiter-based dispute resolution. ZKP privacy is scoped to vendor model weights; operator-side evaluation-data confidentiality is managed separately via synthetic, de-identified, or public benchmark data. We analyze three ZKP workflow variations and evaluate them on consumer-grade hardware, achieving proving times of approximately three seconds and sub-dollar on-chain verification costs under Layer-2 fee assumptions for the recommended single-proof variation, while identifying computational trade-offs of recursive proof aggregation. The entire verification phase operates offline with no impact on real-time OT control paths, bridging the IT/OT pre-transaction trust gap while deferring artifact deployment to existing OT tooling.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: zero knowledge proofs, smart contracts, cyber-physical systems, industrial IoT, IT/OT convergence, privacy-preserving
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: FE - Fakulteta za elektrotehniko
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2026
• Št. strani: 31 str.
• Številčenje: Vol. 18, issue 3,[art. 146
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181032
• UDK: 004
• ISSN pri članku: 1999-5903
• DOI: 10.3390/fi18030146
• COBISS.SI-ID: 272668675
• Datum objave v RUL: 23.03.2026

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Future internet
• Skrajšan naslov: Future internet
• Založnik: MDPI
• ISSN: 1999-5903
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1024493633

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: To je standardna licenca Creative Commons, ki daje uporabnikom največ možnosti za nadaljnjo uporabo dela, pri čemer morajo navesti avtorja.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: dokazi z ničelnim znanjem, pametne pogodbe, kibernetsko-fizični sistemi, industrijski internet stvari, konvergenca IT/OT, varovanje zasebnosti

Projekti

• Financer: ARIS - Javna agencija za znanstvenoraziskovalno in inovacijsko dejavnost Republike Slovenije
• Številka projekta: P2-0425
• Naslov: Decentralizirane rešitve za digitalizacijo industrije ter pametnih mest in skupnosti