"Taking a Closer Look at Blockchain Security"

Blockchain's high level of security attracts users, notably in the financial sector. However, its security is contingent on the integrity of more than half of its network, which several causes can alter. Ning Zhang, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, will use a four-year, $360,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop novel blockchain defense strategies. In particular, Zhang and his lab will explore the effects of clustered power in large mining pools, heterogeneous network connectivity, and malicious peer-to-peer network link manipulation on fundamental blockchain security, as well as the difficulty of establishing a trustworthy external data feed. In order to investigate the security and fairness of the blockchain, the team will create new models and analyses of consensus methods, network connection, and other aspects. The models will help them in developing a quantitative understanding of the system under different network connectivity configurations. Additionally, they will research the use of trusted computing to combat network attacks against the blockchain. This article continues to discuss the study aimed at developing defense mechanisms for the blockchain.

Washington University in St. Louis reports "Taking a Closer Look at Blockchain Security"