From d902c2e0ea8c5daff6d9b4d3ae6be76099935239 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: nadams Date: Thu, 18 May 2017 12:55:50 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Edited ch10.asciidoc with Atlas code editor --- ch10.asciidoc | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/ch10.asciidoc b/ch10.asciidoc index 3aa04cd8..e3a40d66 100644 --- a/ch10.asciidoc +++ b/ch10.asciidoc @@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ Even though P2Pool reduces the concentration of power by mining pool operators, [[consensus_attacks]] === Consensus Attacks -((("mining and consensus", "consensus attacks", id="MACattack10")))((("mining and consensus", "consensus attacks", id="Cattack10")))((("security", "consensus attacks", id="Sconsens10")))Bitcoin's consensus mechanism is, at least theoretically, vulnerable to attack by miners (or pools) that attempt to use their hashing power to dishonest or destructive ends. As we saw, the consensus mechanism depends on having a majority of the miners acting honestly out of self-interest. However, if a miner or group of miners can achieve a significant share of the mining power, they can attack the consensus mechanism so as to disrupt the security and availability of the bitcoin network. +((("mining and consensus", "consensus attacks", id="Cattack10")))((("security", "consensus attacks", id="Sconsens10")))Bitcoin's consensus mechanism is, at least theoretically, vulnerable to attack by miners (or pools) that attempt to use their hashing power to dishonest or destructive ends. As we saw, the consensus mechanism depends on having a majority of the miners acting honestly out of self-interest. However, if a miner or group of miners can achieve a significant share of the mining power, they can attack the consensus mechanism so as to disrupt the security and availability of the bitcoin network. It is important to note that consensus attacks can only affect future consensus, or at best, the most recent past (tens of blocks). Bitcoin's ledger becomes more and more immutable as time passes. While in theory, a fork can be achieved at any depth, in practice, the computing power needed to force a very deep fork is immense, making old blocks practically immutable. Consensus attacks also do not affect the security of the private keys and signing algorithm (ECDSA). A consensus attack cannot steal bitcoin, spend bitcoin without signatures, redirect bitcoin, or otherwise change past transactions or ownership records. ((("denial-of-service attacks")))((("security", "denial-of-service attacks")))Consensus attacks can only affect the most recent blocks and cause denial-of-service disruptions on the creation of future blocks.