{"id":10979,"date":"2023-02-08T21:46:11","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T21:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/?p=10979"},"modified":"2022-05-17T23:55:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-17T23:55:35","slug":"what-is-an-erebus-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erebus-attack","title":{"rendered":"What is an Erebus attack?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-transparent ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Alternar tabla de contenidos\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erebus-attack\/#what_is_an_erebus_attack\" >What is an Erebus attack?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erebus-attack\/#how_does_the_erebus_attack_work\" >How does the Erebus attack work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-an-erebus-attack\/#how_is_the_problem_solved\" >How is the problem solved?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span><p>If you are involved in the world of cryptocurrencies, you should have some necessary knowledge to be able to manage it better.\u00a0<strong>An important concept<\/strong>\u00a0is the attacks that can occur on blockchains. Among all the attacks that exist (which are not few) today we will see what an\u00a0<strong>Erebus<\/strong>\u00a0attack is. If you don\u2019t know what, stay reading this article where we will tell you everything about how an Erebus attack works.<\/p>\n<p>This type of attack is relatively recent and affects cryptocurrencies such as<strong>\u00a0Bitcoin, Litecoin<\/strong>\u00a0and all those derived from its\u00a0<strong>code<\/strong>. This attack is capable of doing something unthinkable in the world of cryptocurrencies and that is censorship. It can censor the entire network of a cryptocurrency. Below we will see how this is possible.<\/p>\n<p>This attack was created by\u00a0<strong>Muoi Tran, Inho Choi, Gi Jun Moon, Anh V.Vu and Min Suk Kang<\/strong>. These developers were the ones who developed the theory and functional proof of concept in\u00a0<strong>July 2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"what_is_an_erebus_attack\"><\/span><strong>What is an Erebus attack?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This attack was developed with the objective of splitting a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-peer-to-peer-network\/\">Peer-to-Peer network<\/a>. Examples of this type of network is the one that supports the operation of some cryptocurrencies such as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-bitcoin\/\">Bitcoin<\/a>. But we must bear in mind that it does not only affect<strong>\u00a0Bitcoin<\/strong>, but also other cryptocurrencies that use<strong>\u00a0the same code<\/strong>\u00a0base and Peer-to-Peer protocol in their operation.<\/p>\n<p>This attack is categorized in the \u201c<strong>network partitioning<\/strong>\u201d branch of attacks. This means that the attacker is looking to partition the targeted network. You are probably thinking: what would the hacker gain from this? Well, while\u00a0<strong>partitioning<\/strong>\u00a0the network, he gains control of most of the network to make it stop\u00a0<strong>working<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the Erebus attack can cause the Bitcoin\u00a0<strong>Peer-to-Peer<\/strong>\u00a0node network to split and\u00a0<strong>disrupt<\/strong>\u00a0its operation, but the worst thing is that it will do all of this by\u00a0<strong>stealth<\/strong>. It will achieve this by stealth, as we would not be able to notice the attack until the network is already suffering from the damage of the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing all the above we can understand that the Erebus attack is a potentially dangerous weapon. If we open our minds a little, we could think that this weapon can fall into the hands of\u00a0<strong>governments<\/strong>\u00a0or large internet\u00a0<strong>service providers<\/strong>\u00a0or ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to attack the Bitcoin network or any other cryptocurrency that does not have measures to defend against this type of attack. The objective of this attack can be, as we have mentioned above to\u00a0<strong>censor\u00a0<\/strong>the network to disrupt its operation or worse, to monitor everything users do on it.<\/p>\n<div id=\"image_1568558367\" class=\"img has-hover x md-x lg-x y md-y lg-y\">\n<div class=\"img-inner dark\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Qu%C3%A9-es-Ataque-Erebus2.jpeg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Qu\u00e9-es-Ataque-Erebus2.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Qu\u00e9-es-Ataque-Erebus2-300x205.jpeg 300w\" alt=\"Qu\u00e9-es-Ataque-Erebus\" width=\"768\" height=\"526\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Qu\u00e9-es-Ataque-Erebus2.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Qu\u00e9-es-Ataque-Erebus2-300x205.jpeg 300w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Qu\u00e9-es-Ataque-Erebus2.jpeg\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_does_the_erebus_attack_work\"><\/span><strong>How does the Erebus attack work?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The operation of the Erebus attack is somewhat\u00a0<strong>complex<\/strong>. It mainly takes advantage of the Bitcoin protocol\u2019s ability to connect the various\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-node-its-importance-in-cryptocurrencies\/\">nodes<\/a>\u00a0of the network. It achieves this through connection manipulation.<\/p>\n<p>To affect the proper functioning of Bitcoin, the attacker conducts a MITM\u00a0<strong>(Man-in-the-middle<\/strong>) attack. This attack allows the attacker to steal a legal connection from Bitcoin nodes and exchange it for a fake connection that is under his absolute control.<\/p>\n<p>Following this hijacking system, the attacker gradually takes the connections of the entire network and when he has taken\u00a0<strong>enough connections<\/strong>\u00a0he can start sending false information that affects the correct functioning of the system.<\/p>\n<p>Due to this attack, the victim network enters a state of non-consensus, which ends up splitting the network. At this point the attacker can do whatever he wants, from a simple\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-double-spending-attack\/\">double-spending<\/a>\u00a0attack to a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-a-51-blockchain-attack\/\"><strong>51% attack<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on the blockchain.<\/p>\n<p>Everything described above is possible, since Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies\u00a0<strong>derived<\/strong>\u00a0from it work through a network of\u00a0<strong>decentralized nodes<\/strong>\u00a0which communicate thanks to the Internet. This connection is carried out through a network protocol that allows its operation. Through this protocol, the network nodes participate in the decisions taken within the network to validate transactions, blocks and more. It should be noted that all this happens under a\u00a0<strong>consensus scheme<\/strong>\u00a0in which the majority decides the evolution of the network.<\/p>\n<p>However, if an attacker managed to<strong>\u00a0take control of the nodes<\/strong>\u00a0and the network they make up, it could affect the functioning of the blockchain.<\/p>\n<p>The downside of this attack is that to achieve it in principle, neither a large amount of computing power nor an extensive network of computers is necessary. With a single machine it would be possible to affect the Bitcoin network within\u00a0<strong>5 to 6 weeks<\/strong>. It should be noted that this would require a connection at a\u00a0<strong>Tier 1 or Tier 2<\/strong>\u00a0network level.<\/p>\n<p>Tier 1 or Tier 2 are networks that have the ability to control high data flows or ISPs. The use of these networks gives them the opportunity to reach\u00a0<strong>sets of networks<\/strong>\u00a0and intervene in their data traffic. It is precisely the property of Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks that the Erebus attack uses to manipulate node connections in a completely\u00a0<strong>undetectable<\/strong>\u00a0way.<\/p>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-divider divider clearfix\"><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"how_is_the_problem_solved\"><\/span><strong>How is the problem solved?<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When this type of attack became known in\u00a0<strong>June 2019<\/strong>, it was suggested to integrate into the Bitcoin code the option to subdivide and control the communication of some nodes with others through different networks and the Internet.\u00a0 The idea of implementing this system was carried out with the intention of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Prevent an AS or Autonomous System from manipulating the routing\u00a0<\/b>of node connections and affecting the operation of the network.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Prevent the use of the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)\u00a0<\/b>by attackers to control the routing of packets between various autonomous systems in order to connect them. This would prevent attackers from hijacking node connections to use them for their own benefit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Following this proposal, months later\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/en\/what-is-bitcoin-core\/\"><strong>Bitcoin Core<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0released the\u00a0<strong>0.20 update<\/strong>. This update was characterized by\u00a0<strong>Asmap<\/strong>, the first security feature that protected the Bitcoin network from this attack.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed solution was relatively simple. The number of connections made by the nodes simply had to be\u00a0<strong>increased<\/strong>. Subsequently, these connections would have to be made to have access to<strong>\u00a0certain capabilities<\/strong>\u00a0of the nodes and finally, and most importantly, a connection\u00a0<strong>diversification<\/strong>\u00a0system would have to be generated to prevent the nodes from only joining the same group of\u00a0<strong>IPs from the same ISP or network<\/strong>. This operation prevents an ISP from being able to carry out a successful Erebus attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 4<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutos<\/span><\/span>If you are involved in the world of cryptocurrencies, you should have some necessary knowledge to be able to manage it better.\u00a0An important concept\u00a0is the attacks that can occur on blockchains. Among all the attacks that exist (which are not few) today we will see what an\u00a0Erebus\u00a0attack is. If you don\u2019t know what, stay reading [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criptomonedas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitnovo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}