Abdulkassim
Cybersecurity IAAContractorProof
Problem Statement
Government construction projects use digital systems to manage contractors, tenders, contracts and project information. These systems contain important information such as contractor details, submitted documents, approvals, project progress and performance records. The security challenge is making sure that this information and the actions performed on it can be trusted throughout the contract lifecycle. A contractor may be genuine, but an employee's account could be compromised, an unauthorized person could act on behalf of the contractor, a false document could be submitted, or an important record could be changed after it was approved. In such situations, it may be difficult to confirm who performed the action, whether they were authorized, and whether the original information has been changed. ContractorProof aims to address this trust and security gap by protecting the identity, authorization and integrity of important contractor-related information and actions.
Proposed Solution
ContractorProof will work as a security layer alongside existing government systems. It will verify contractor users and their authorized representatives, use roles to control what each person can do, and use digital signatures and cryptographic hashing to protect important actions and records. When an authorized user submits or approves information, the system records who performed the action and creates a cryptographic proof of the record. If the record is changed later, the system can detect the difference. The system will also keep a security audit trail showing important activities such as creation, approval, changes and verification. Unusual activity can be flagged for investigation. The solution will not replace existing government procurement systems.
Innovation
ContractorProof treats contractor trust as a continuous cybersecurity issue rather than checking trust only during registration. It combines identity verification, role-based access, digital signatures, hashing, secure records and audit trails in one security layer. The system can later be extended with permissioned distributed ledger technology so authorized government institutions can independently verify important cryptographic proofs without putting sensitive information on a public.
Expected Impact
ContractorProof can help reduce impersonation, unauthorized actions, false credentials and unnoticed changes to important contractor and project records. It can improve accountability by showing who performed important actions, make audits and investigations easier, and make contractor-related information easier to verify. In the future, it could also help different government institutions securely verify information shared between them.