Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Digital Currency Initiative have developed a solution aimed at preventing attacks on blockchains, The Block reports.
The most common type of blockchain attack at the moment is the 51% attack, in which a miner takes control of more than half of the blockchain's hashrate, allowing him to spend the same crypto twice.
MIT researchers launched the Pool Detective solution back in December last year to prevent this type of attack.
This proxy server connects to 32 separate pools and gathers data about their work. During the analysis, experts identify "unexpected behavior or anomalies." For instance, they determine if a block that is added to a blockchain is different from what is expected.
According to MIT developers, Pool Detective allows to detect attacks before they even take place. The solution is applicable to hash rental marketplaces. The MIT believes hackers can use cheap energy to carry out attacks on blockchains.
Researchers plan to extend the monitoring of mining pools, tracking not only blocks, but also messages in P2P networks.
The team also intends to develop a special version of Pool Detective for individual miners that can be used for their own protection.
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