Author: Zhong Shao Title: The Essence of Proof-Carrying Code Abstract: Proof-Carrying Code (PCC) is a very general framework that can, in principle, be used to verify arbitrary properties of machine language programs. Existing PCC systems, including Foundational Proof-Carrying Code (FPCC), however, have not fulfilled such promises. In this talk, we contemplate the important principles that embody the essence of PCC and FPCC, describe a framework that satisfies these principles, and show that the new framework is simpler, more general and flexible, and more likely to help us realize the full potential of PCC.