A flexible method to defend against computationally resourceful miners in blockchain proof of work

Ren, W; Hu, J; Zhu, T; Ren, Y; Choo, KKR

A flexible method to defend against computationally resourceful miners in blockchain proof of work

Ren, W Hu, J Zhu, T

Ren, Y Choo, KKR

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Publisher:: Elsevier BV
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Information Sciences, 2020, 507, pp. 161-171
Issue Date:: 2020-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ren, W
dc.contributor.author	Hu, J
dc.contributor.author	Zhu, T https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3411-7947
dc.contributor.author	Ren, Y
dc.contributor.author	Choo, KKR
dc.date.accessioned	2020-10-15T20:49:04Z
dc.date.available	2020-10-15T20:49:04Z
dc.date.issued	2020-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Information Sciences, 2020, 507, pp. 161-171
dc.identifier.issn	0020-0255
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/143282
dc.description.abstract	© 2019 Elsevier Inc. Blockchain is well known as a decentralized and distributed public digital ledger, and is currently used by most cryptocurrencies to record transactions. One of the fundamental differences between blockchain and traditional distributed systems is that blockchain's decentralization relies on consensus protocols, such as proof of work (PoW). However, computation systems, such as application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines, have recently emerged that are specifically designed for PoW computation and may compromise a decentralized system within a short amount of time. These computationally resourceful miners challenge the very nature of blockchain, with potentially serious consequences. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a general and flexible PoW method that enforces memory usage. Specifically, the proposed method blocks computationally resourceful miners and retains the previous design logic without requiring one to replace the original hash function. We also propose the notion of a memory intensive function (MIF) with a memory usage parameter k (kMIF). Our scheme comprises three algorithms that construct a kMIF Hash by invoking any available hash function which is not kMIF to protect against ASICs, and then thwarts the pre-computation of hash results over a nonce. We then design experiments to evaluate memory changes in these three algorithms, and the findings demonstrate that enforcing memory usage in a blockchain can be an effective defense against computationally resourceful miners.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Elsevier BV
dc.relation.ispartof	Information Sciences
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.ins.2019.08.031
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.subject	01 Mathematical Sciences, 08 Information and Computing Sciences, 09 Engineering
dc.subject.classification	Artificial Intelligence & Image Processing
dc.title	A flexible method to defend against computationally resourceful miners in blockchain proof of work
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	507
utslib.for	080303 Computer System Security
utslib.for	01 Mathematical Sciences
utslib.for	08 Information and Computing Sciences
utslib.for	09 Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2020-10-15T20:48:51Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	507

Abstract:

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. Blockchain is well known as a decentralized and distributed public digital ledger, and is currently used by most cryptocurrencies to record transactions. One of the fundamental differences between blockchain and traditional distributed systems is that blockchain's decentralization relies on consensus protocols, such as proof of work (PoW). However, computation systems, such as application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) machines, have recently emerged that are specifically designed for PoW computation and may compromise a decentralized system within a short amount of time. These computationally resourceful miners challenge the very nature of blockchain, with potentially serious consequences. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a general and flexible PoW method that enforces memory usage. Specifically, the proposed method blocks computationally resourceful miners and retains the previous design logic without requiring one to replace the original hash function. We also propose the notion of a memory intensive function (MIF) with a memory usage parameter k (kMIF). Our scheme comprises three algorithms that construct a kMIF Hash by invoking any available hash function which is not kMIF to protect against ASICs, and then thwarts the pre-computation of hash results over a nonce. We then design experiments to evaluate memory changes in these three algorithms, and the findings demonstrate that enforcing memory usage in a blockchain can be an effective defense against computationally resourceful miners.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/143282