Post
Topic
Board Development & Technical Discussion
Re: New transaction malleability attack wave? Another stresstest?
by
Perlover
on 14/10/2015, 07:10:19 UTC
Besides BIP 62, which will take time to finalize, what can be done to prevent this attack? What steps can wallets and payment processors take? Thanks for being a good sport.

Stop relying on others to validate your transactions and watch the blockchain for you.
Also, (this is the biggest one) don't categorize transactions based on transaction ID, then store them away and never check them again.

It's not that hard. But it's hard when the wallet is already built from the ground up under the assumption that "Once we see a transaction, even with 0 confirmations, it's as good as done."

Stop making that assumption, and code your wallets accordingly.

Also, there needs to be vigilance on the user side as well.

If you spend unconfirmed change, you are risking the chain being broken.
If you accept unconfirmed transactions with unconfirmed inputs, you are at a large risk of being double spent if you don't wait for at least one confirmation.

The only sure-fire way to prevent becoming a victim is to wait for confirmations.

Yes, these are gold rules... But many companies don't follow these rules.
The gold rule for bitcoin receivers to wait at least 1 confirmation. But many companies who paid to me don't follow these rules and after this attack i should resolve some unpaid trasnactions from them... They think that paid to me (they pay to me through some gateways) but i don't have bitcoins.

This attack has benefited. But for many it is better understood, it is necessary to continue the attack for a long time.

During time of this attack i thought that a bitcoin price will be dropped but one only grown Sad