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As things stand, many crypto projects are quite vulnerable to the shady activities of hackers and other malignant, third-party actors. In this regard, we can see that over the past couple of years, these dangers have become more pertinent â since it appears as though various nefarious agents have been looking to âsplit the Bitcoin network into twoâ for quite some time now.
A Closer Look at the Matter
According to a recent whitepaper published by a leading Swiss university âETH Zurichâ, a whole host of âblockchain systems are quite vulnerable to hacking issuesâ since they depend on âinternet-wide communications in order to reach community consensusâ.
When talking exclusively about Bitcoinâs shortcomings, the above-mentioned whitepaper states that the Bitcoin network can easily be âsplit in halfâ by any AS-level adversary if he/she were to make use of a BGP-based attack (Border Gateway Protocol).
However, via a recent press release, the folks over at ETH Zurich claim that their crypto-dev team has devised a relay network solution called âSABERâ (that could be used to protect the BTC ecosystem from the aforementioned issue).
What is SABER?
As the name seems to indicate, SABER can be thought of as a digital security tool that has been designed to act as a âdefense mechanismâ against foreign actors. Not only that, but it can also be used to protect a network against ârouting attacksâ.
To be a bit more specific, we can see that SABER, when deployed, can play an integral role in securing a network by providing its host system with the following benefits:
- Deliver clients connected to the host network with definitive security guarantees.
- The SABER protocol has the ability to be partially/fully deployed â as per the requirements of the network operator.
- Provide developers with a host of unique security benefits early-on in the systemâs deployment phase.
Lastly, on the subject of SABERâs utility and overall functionality, Maria Apostolaki of ETH Zurich was quoted as saying:
âSABRE is a small relay network whose nodes are strategically located such that they remain connected to each other and connected to as many regular nodes as possible, even in the presence of an AS-level adversary that hijacks traffic.â
Final Take
In rounding off this article, it is worth noting that ETH Zurichâs whitepaper states that when making use of SABER, the risk of a network split can be reduced to an amazing extent. To be more precise, the protocol, when deployed, helps bring down the possibility of a network hijack/split to just 3.1 percent.
Last but not least, it should also be noted that SABER will be presented to the world during the upcoming Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (which is scheduled to take place at the end of this month).
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP (Ripple), and BCH Price Analysis Watch (Feb 18th)
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.