The Proof of Coverage Security Working Group (PoCSWG) is a community-led group of PoC security experts, data scientists, and RF engineers focused on network integrity and ensuring fair distribution of rewards.
Our purpose is to:
$^1$This power is specifically limited to the Investigative Committee, a special subset of PoCSWG membership.
From the Helium Network documentation:
The Helium blockchain uses a novel work algorithm called “Proof of Coverage” (PoC) to verify that Hotspots are located where they claim. Put another way, PoC tries to verify, on an ongoing basis, that Hotspots are honestly representing their location and the wireless network coverage they are creating from that location.
To incentivize the meteoric rollout of Helium’s LoRaWAN Network, the PoC algorithm rewards Hotspots for verifying each other’s capability to provide reliable connectivity to end devices. Overall, PoC has been an unprecedented triumph, driving the rapid deployment of hundreds of thousands of gateways around the world. Unfortunately, this growth has also created a significant economic incentive for a small number of malicious actors to take advantage of PoC to mine HNT without providing meaningful coverage for devices.
The PoCSWG was designed to understand, identify, and address PoC-related gaming. With an interdisciplinary and community-driven team of experts from data science, hardware security, RF engineering, and cryptography, we strive for solutions that do not sacrifice user privacy or network performance. When evaluating proposals, we prioritize data-driven, interpretable analyses with realistic implementations. Despite the technical complexity of the topic, we aim to make the findings digestible for the broader community through useful visualizations, clear explanations, and representative examples. Often, these descriptions - strengthened by scrutiny from the group’s members - form the basis for security-oriented HIP’s.
PoCSWG participation is meant to be open and informal, and we strive for a diverse array of community representatives. To ensure effective technical discussions, we will prioritize prospective members with backgrounds and expertise in the following topics: blockchain, data science, embedded systems, and electrical, RF, or computer engineering.
Working group members should demonstrate clear written communication and technical documentation skills. They should have the ability to explain and educate others and conduct themselves diplomatically and respectfully to the community.
Working group members should be active within the Helium community, and demonstrate alignment to grow the Helium Network responsibly with reputable partners.
Working group members are expected to actively engage in PoCSWG bi-weekly meetings, discussions, and voting.
If you’re interested in joining the working group, please fill out an application!