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theymos [ARCHIVE] /
npub10vt…per0
2023-06-07 02:24:00
in reply to nevent1q…5572

theymos [ARCHIVE] on Nostr: πŸ“… Original date posted:2011-09-08 πŸ—’οΈ Summary of this message: Alert system is ...

πŸ“… Original date posted:2011-09-08
πŸ—’οΈ Summary of this message: Alert system is crucial for network's security against attackers with >50% computational power. GUI client should restrict transactions during alerts.
πŸ“ Original message:The alert system will be very important if there are ever any critical
problems in the network. For example, it is currently Bitcoin's only
defense against an attacker with >50% of the computational power, where
alerts would be used to tell people to stop accepting transactions.

Displaying a message is pretty harmless. In fact, I don't think the
message is prominent enough. The GUI client should not allow people to
see received transactions or send new transactions while an alert is in
effect (with an opt-out), and there should be an opt-in feature that
puts RPC into safe mode in response to an alert.

Alerts are no worse than transactions as a DoS attack vector. They're
much safer than typical HTTPS because there are no CAs that can break
its security.

(FYI: I also have a copy of the alert key.)
Author Public Key
npub10vt6y7m6shn8hfuj83zjlwcga4fky38kv73qz6xlcvtj4q7fjt0sqmper0