THELOGICALINDIAN - Bitcoin technology aggregation Blockstream has conceded its flagship Liquid Network could be affected to accouterments vulnerabilities Following contempo disclosures that assertive Chinesemanufactured motherboards accommodate backdoors Blockstream has authored a column acceptance that such an accomplishment could acquiesce an antagonist to access their offchain bitcoin alteration system
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Hardware Vulnerability Exposes New Risk Posed by Centralization
“During the Liquid abettor server architecture process, we knew that the blackmail of compromised accouterments was a accepted concern,” conceded Blockstream in a column authored on Thursday. In designing Liquid, a bartering additional band Bitcoin solution, the arguable aggregation has had to accumulate apparatus that accommodate a proprietary key bore affiliated to a server. Should the clandestine key abstracts be leaked, potentially through a backdoored computer chip, huge losses could be incurred.
Once absolutely operational, Blockstream is planning for Liquid to be amenable for funneling huge amounts of BTC amid cryptocurrency exchanges. Such transfers accept consistently been performed on-chain, but the addition of Blockstream’s own arrangement could accidentally betrayal the bitcoin ecosystem to a new advance vector. While such an advance would crave composure to cull off, the rewards of auspiciously entering the Liquid Network, such as through a accouterments backdoor, could incentivize state-sponsored hackers to attack such a feat. The aggregation conceded:
Blockstream Initiates Third Party Security Audit
As a basic measure, Blockstream is to agency a aegis analysis of its accouterments modules to actuate whether they are at accident from the alleged Supermicro vulnerability that ability accept apparent about 30 U.S. companies including Apple and Amazon, to Chinese spies. “We will address a sample of our motherboards to a third-party aegis aggregation for all-encompassing examination,” wrote Blockstream. “Moving forward, we are continuing our accident acknowledgment action for accouterments threats through a array of techniques, including accretion our supplier assortment so that no distinct compromised bell-ringer would abnormally affect the Liquid Network.”
Blockstream accomplished by asserting: “We accept that the Supermicro vulnerability, if apart accepted and if present on our servers, is mitigated by added aspects of the Liquid aegis design.” While the aggregation has every allurement to anxiously awning its accouterments for threats and to booty able-bodied measures to abate these, the bald achievability of Bitcoin actuality compromised in such a appearance is a account for concern.
Bitcoin was initially advised so that all affairs should be performed on-chain, authoritative them absolutely auditable on a accessible ledger, with the accuracy this provides ensures complete accountability for counterparties. In the accident of one entity’s computer actuality compromised in some way, they could conceivably lose their coins, but the Bitcoin arrangement would abide unaffected. Liquid, on the added hand, is advised to run on sidechains, “allowing traders and bazaar markers to move their bitcoin backing instantly aural the network”.
Such a accouterment may be benign for participants, but a baleful accouterments blemish could accept ramifications that appulse aloft the absolute Liquid ecosystem. Having been beneath development back 2024, Liquid is a circuitous and as yet ambiguous technology. With Blockstream advance sole ascendancy over the project, its centralized attributes makes the aggregation a ambition for the aforementioned array of backdoors that accept afflicted some of America’s better tech companies.
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Images address of Shutterstock, and Blockstream.
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