Published on: 2013-12-25T20:21:36+00:00
In the email conversation, Ryan Carboni proposes a reduction in the difficulty of the Bitcoin network to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. These attacks involve isolating an individual from the network and switching them to the attacker's chain. Carboni argues that such attacks are unlikely due to the significant hash power required, which would be noticed by others on the network.However, another member of the mailing list dismisses the proposal, deeming it unnecessary and potentially harmful. They suggest discussing it on Bitcointalk instead. Carboni becomes frustrated with the lack of understanding and decides to end the conversation.Carboni reiterates their point, stating that for a man-in-the-middle attack to occur with a substantial percentage of hash power, the attacker would need to target a pool or a large number of nodes. This activity would be noticeable. Furthermore, the attacker would require at least 1% of the hash power and divert it to attack one person, which is rare considering few individuals possess even a hundredth of a percent of the total hash power.To address these proposed attacks, Carboni concedes that reducing difficulty by 80% if only four blocks were mined in three days would provide sufficient protection. However, they feel their arguments are not being understood and have nothing more to add.The email concludes with a comment about the holidays.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T07:06:12.092048+00:00