The recent Erebus attack shows that eclipse attacks with network-Sybil capability against Bitcoin's P2P network are possible. A few Bitcoin protocol tweaks have been quickly implemented to counter the attacks; yet, they are not complete solutions.

A Stealthier Partitioning Attack against Bitcoin Peer-to-Peer Network

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lwQp0hOs7s

We present the Erebus attack, which allows large malicious Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to isolate any targeted public Bitcoin nodes from the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network. The Erebus attack does not require routing manipulation (e.g., BGP hijacks) and hence it is virtually undetectable to any control-plane and even typical data-plane detectors.

[Q12] What should I do if I am currently running Bitcoin nodes?

You should suspect if you are not receiving new blocks on time. Also, you should wait for Bitcoin Core updates.

bitcoin

Erebus's Countermeasures

> The recent Erebus attack shows that eclipse attacks with network-Sybil capability against Bitcoin's P2P network are possible. A few Bitcoin protocol tweaks have been quickly implemented to counter the attacks; yet, they are not complete solutions.

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Video (60 seconds in length):

*A Stealthier Partitioning Attack against Bitcoin Peer-to-Peer Network*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lwQp0hOs7s

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And from the FAQ:

> We present the Erebus attack, which allows large malicious Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to isolate any targeted public Bitcoin nodes from the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network. The Erebus attack does not require routing manipulation (e.g., BGP hijacks) and hence it is virtually undetectable to any control-plane and even typical data-plane detectors.

> About the defenses
> [Q12] What should I do if I am currently running Bitcoin nodes?
> You should suspect if you are not receiving new blocks on time. Also, you should wait for Bitcoin Core updates.

https://erebus-attack.comp.nus.edu.sg
