Published on: 2022-12-09T10:16:48+00:00
The researchers have proposed a practical and efficient solution to the issue of jamming attacks in blockchain payment channels. They distinguish between quick jamming, where jams are failed and re-sent every few seconds, and slow jamming, where jams remain in-flight for hours. To discourage quick jamming, the researchers propose implementing unconditional fees, as currently jams are free since routing nodes don't charge for failed payment attempts. Simulations show that even a small fee increase of just 2% can fully compensate a routing node under attack.However, fees are not effective in preventing slow jamming as it requires only a few jams. To address slow jamming, the researchers suggest using local reputation, where nodes keep track of their peers' behavior. Peer reputation is based on forwarding honest payments that resolve quickly and bring sufficient fee revenue. High-reputation peers will forward payments on a best efforts basis, while high-risk payments have limited liquidity and slots.The researchers take a systematic approach to their proposal. They list five properties a mitigation strategy should have: effectiveness, incentive compatibility, user experience, privacy and security, and ease of implementation. They then go over the design decisions necessary to construct a countermeasure against jamming. Based on the desired criteria and available options, they converge on the solution of implementing unconditional fees and using local reputation. The researchers believe that their solution strikes a good balance, effectively addressing the problem while being relatively straightforward to implement.The email exchanges discuss various aspects of routing payments on the Lightning Network. There are debates about upfront fees, privacy, and success rates. Some argue that upfront fees are necessary to avoid spam and probing, while others emphasize the importance of optimizing for privacy and success rates. The discussion also touches on the issue of locking up funds in channels and the need for better routing strategies.Overall, the exchanges highlight the complexity of balancing privacy, fees, and success rates in routing payments on the Lightning Network. The proposal to combat jamming attacks with unconditional fees and local reputation offers a potential solution, but further discussions and evaluations are needed to refine the approach.The researchers plan to discuss their proposal at the next spec meeting, where they will present their findings and seek feedback from the community. Overall, their proposal provides a practical and efficient solution to mitigate jamming attacks in blockchain payment channels, utilizing unconditional fees and local reputation to discourage quick jamming and address slow jamming respectively.
Updated on: 2023-08-01T00:49:09.790202+00:00