Author: Ariel Lorenzo-Luaces 2018-04-15 20:00:38
Published on: 2018-04-15T20:00:38+00:00
The effectiveness of using asymmetric delays to prevent denial-of-service (DOS) attacks in the Lightning Network has been questioned. The delay only affects the honest node and not the attacker who can still unbalance the channel in their favor, reducing their funds to a reserve balance. Even with the delay, the attacker can refuse to participate in a mutual close, forcing the channel to be closed on-chain. This is seen as an active attack that is just as bad as the previously mentioned DOS attack. It's been suggested that symmetrical delay commitment transactions could create cheaper disruptions, particularly if a channel is unbalanced in favor of one party. However, this attack is more passive than the one under a symmetrical delay commitment transaction scheme.
Updated on: 2023-05-24T23:15:49.740531+00:00