Risks from Spam Attacks on Blockchains for Internet-of-Things Devices

Santeri Paavolainen; Tommi Elo; Pekka Nikander

doi:10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837

Risks from Spam Attacks on Blockchains for Internet-of-Things Devices

Santeri Paavolainen, Tommi Elo, Pekka Nikander

Ericsson Research

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

327 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

There has been increased interest in the use of blockchains to control Internet of Things devices either directly, or through smart contracts. Many blockchains, such as Ethereum and Fabric, have support for smart contracts. The use of public blockchains while attractive due to their decentralization and availability, do pose challenges, such as unpredictable transaction latencies and cryptocurrency price fluctuations. Transactions in the Ethereum network, such as invokations of smart contracts used to control an IoT device, have no fairness or eventuality guarantees. In this work we describe a “spam attack” method available to parties with sufficient cryptocurrency reserves to delay a statistically significant portion of transactions submitted to the Ethereum network. This paper derives estimations on the costs and effects of such an attack, and is based on an analysis of historical transactions.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON)
Place of Publication	International
Publisher	IEEE
Pages	314-320
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-5386-7266-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837
Publication status	Published - 2018
MoE publication type	A4 Conference publication
Event	IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference - Vancouver, Canada Duration: 1 Nov 2018 → 3 Nov 2018 Conference number: 9

Conference

Conference	IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference
Abbreviated title	IEMCON
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Vancouver
Period	01/11/2018 → 03/11/2018

Keywords

Internet of Things
Blockchain
Ethereum
Denial of Service
Smart contracts

Access to Document

10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837

ELEC-paavolainen-et-al-ethereum-spam-attack-20181002-express-approvedAccepted author manuscript, 1.98 MB

SOFIE: Secure Open Federation for Internet Everywhere
Nikander, P. (Principal investigator)
27/12/2017 → 31/12/2020
Project: EU: Framework programmes funding

Cite this

@inproceedings{89f4ee0899fc49fea997cce4358b229b,

title = "Risks from Spam Attacks on Blockchains for Internet-of-Things Devices",

abstract = "There has been increased interest in the use of blockchains to control Internet of Things devices either directly, or through smart contracts. Many blockchains, such as Ethereum and Fabric, have support for smart contracts. The use of public blockchains while attractive due to their decentralization and availability, do pose challenges, such as unpredictable transaction latencies and cryptocurrency price fluctuations. Transactions in the Ethereum network, such as invokations of smart contracts used to control an IoT device, have no fairness or eventuality guarantees. In this work we describe a “spam attack” method available to parties with sufficient cryptocurrency reserves to delay a statistically significant portion of transactions submitted to the Ethereum network. This paper derives estimations on the costs and effects of such an attack, and is based on an analysis of historical transactions.",

keywords = "Internet of Things, Blockchain, Ethereum, Denial of Service, Smart contracts",

author = "Santeri Paavolainen and Tommi Elo and Pekka Nikander",

note = "| openaire: EC/H2020/779984/EU//SOFIE; IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference, IEMCON ; Conference date: 01-11-2018 Through 03-11-2018",

year = "2018",

doi = "10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837",

language = "English",

pages = "314--320",

booktitle = "2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON)",

publisher = "IEEE",

address = "United States",

}

Paavolainen, S, Elo, T & Nikander, P 2018, Risks from Spam Attacks on Blockchains for Internet-of-Things Devices. in 2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON). IEEE, International, pp. 314-320, IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 01/11/2018. https://doi.org/10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837

Risks from Spam Attacks on Blockchains for Internet-of-Things Devices. / Paavolainen, Santeri; Elo, Tommi; Nikander, Pekka.
2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON). International: IEEE, 2018. p. 314-320.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference article in proceedings › Scientific › peer-review

TY - GEN

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AU - Paavolainen, Santeri

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AB - There has been increased interest in the use of blockchains to control Internet of Things devices either directly, or through smart contracts. Many blockchains, such as Ethereum and Fabric, have support for smart contracts. The use of public blockchains while attractive due to their decentralization and availability, do pose challenges, such as unpredictable transaction latencies and cryptocurrency price fluctuations. Transactions in the Ethereum network, such as invokations of smart contracts used to control an IoT device, have no fairness or eventuality guarantees. In this work we describe a “spam attack” method available to parties with sufficient cryptocurrency reserves to delay a statistically significant portion of transactions submitted to the Ethereum network. This paper derives estimations on the costs and effects of such an attack, and is based on an analysis of historical transactions.

KW - Internet of Things

KW - Blockchain

KW - Ethereum

KW - Denial of Service

KW - Smart contracts

U2 - 10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837

DO - 10.1109/IEMCON.2018.8614837

M3 - Conference article in proceedings

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EP - 320

BT - 2018 IEEE 9th Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference (IEMCON)

PB - IEEE

CY - International

T2 - IEEE Annual Information Technology, Electronics and Mobile Communication Conference

Y2 - 1 November 2018 through 3 November 2018

ER -

Risks from Spam Attacks on Blockchains for Internet-of-Things Devices

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

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Projects

SOFIE: Secure Open Federation for Internet Everywhere

Cite this