bitcoin-dev

Demonstrating Pinning Attacks under Real-World Conditions

Demonstrating Pinning Attacks under Real-World Conditions

Original Postby Peter Todd

Posted on: September 3, 2024 12:58 UTC

Antoine Riard has provided permission to conduct attack tests on his Lightning node until October 1st.

The node in question is part of the Alice OpenTimestamps calendar and operates under the address 023345274dd80a01c0e80ec48928188783f9bc5281be8f5057c050492f10711a5b@alice.opentimestamps.org:9735. While testing, participants are urged to avoid actions that would significantly strain CPU or RAM resources due to the operational nature of the server within a production environment. However, should the server inadvertently go offline, the impact is deemed minimal. This resilience is attributed to the OpenTimestamps (OTS) protocol's redundancy, ensuring that the temporary unavailability of one calendar does not compromise the system's overall functionality.

The node currently boasts approximately $400 in outgoing capacity and $2000 in incoming capacity. Despite its critical role in the OTS infrastructure, it receives minimal donations. In light of this, any disruption caused to the LND (Lightning Network Daemon) during the testing phase is considered non-critical. However, Riard stipulates that any expenses incurred as a result of the testing must be reimbursed by the tester. Additionally, testers are encouraged to make a net donation of $100 to the OTS community upon completion of their testing activities to contribute positively towards its sustainability. Should there be any losses exceeding this amount due to justice transactions, they will be accepted as donations.

For further correspondence, Antoine Riard can be contacted through the email provided in the original message, with specific instructions on how to format the email address for contact purposes. For more information on related topics, Riard references Peter Todd's website, accessible at https://petertodd.org.