Bitcoin's blockchain can be loaded with sensitive, unlawful or malicious data, raising potential legal problems in most of the child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain, according to child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain based in Germany. The researchers suggest Bitcoin's blockchain can also be loaded with malware, something Interpol warned about three years ago but has not yet been documented in the wild. The Bitcoin blockchain is a distributed ledger or database that contains linked records of all Bitcoin transactions.
These records or blocks hold batches of hashed transactions and are linked to preceding blocks by a cryptographic signature. The blocks also allow for additional data, and therein lies the issue. Child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain an email to The RegisterRoman Matzutt, a researcher with RWTH Aachen University and one of the co-authors of the paper, said the problem exists with other blockchains that allow content to be inserted, such as Litecoin and Ethereum. The paper identifies several mechanisms for adding arbitrary data to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Augmenting transactions in this way allows for additional arguably useful Bitcoin-related services, such as digital notarization and digital rights management. But it also adds the possibility of abuse. At present, few Bitcoin blockchain child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain contain extra data — only 1. Nonetheless, the presence of even a small amount illegal or objectionable content could pose problems for participants.
The researchers acknowledge that there haven't yet been definitive court rulings on this specific issue but insist "However, considering legal texts we anticipate a high potential for illegal blockchain content to jeopardize blockchain-based system such as Bitcoin in the future," they state.
CryptoGraffiti anticipates the risk posed by objectionable content in policy statement for those who attempting to post data to the Bitcoin blockchain: In case of abuse we may report your IP address to the police. That's not necessarily much of a deterrent. While adding something like "Remember Tiananmen Square" or a picture of the Dalai Lama to the blockchain wouldn't be an issue in the US, it could cause Chinese authorities to take steps to prevent that content from being redistributed through Bitcoin nodes in China.
Adrian Colyer, a partner with VC firm Accel in London who wrote a blog post about the paper, suggests the child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain to add arbitrary data to Bitcoin's blockchain could be used as a pretense for governments to harass political foes operating Bitcoin nodes. Matzutt confirmed that child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain individual could "poison" the blockchain by inserting a politically contentious image.
Matzutt echoed Harding's sentiments. He pointed to an upcoming paper child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain, to be presented in April, that deals with the issue. Matzutt argues that until countermeasures such as fees are formalized, the Bitcoin community could deploy a quick fix such as rejecting "suspicious" transactions.
The Register - Independent news and views for the tech community. Part of Situation Publishing. Join our daily or weekly newsletters, subscribe to a specific section or set News alerts. The Register uses cookies. Blame everything on 'computer error' — no one will contradict you If you're a Fedora fanboi, this latest release might break your heart a little Microsoft's latest Windows 10 update downs Chrome, Cortana LLVM contributor hits breakpoint, quits citing inclusivity intolerance.
Password re-use is dangerous, right? So what about stopping it with password-sharing? Master Amazon Web Services: Get on top of reliability with our best practices webinar El Reg's Serverless Computing London call for papers shuts tonight Now that Kubernetes has won, DigitalOcean takes a late dip in K8s Software dev and deployment luminaries head to Westminster.
Geek's Guide Put Nov. Hopefully Pentagon in uproar: Boffins think they've found the evidence. Now for some security headaches Silicon can now reconfigure itself with just a jolt of electricity day drone flights? You are like a little baby. How about a full YEAR? Verity Stob Mystery crapper comes a cropper The steaks have never been higher: Swiss Lidl is selling local cannabis Texas residents start naming adopted drains No top-ups, please, I'm a millennial: Lightweight yoof shunning booze like never before.
Most read Cambridge Analytica dismantled for good? It just changed its name to Emerdata Democrats need just one more senator and then a miracle to reverse US net neutrality death Take-off crash 'n' burn didn't kill the Concorde, it was just too bloody expensive to maintain Microsoft's latest Windows 10 update downs Chrome, Cortana Exclusive to all press: Atari launches world's best ever games console.
More from The Register. Junk food meets junk money: Lloyds Bank bans Bitcoin purchases by credit card customers B-b-b. Cops seek 4 for aggravated burglary in Midsomer Murders town Fintech workers reportedly targeted. UK reaches peak Bitcoin as bin firm accepts cryptocurrency 'It's not a publicity stunt,' says BusinessWaste. JavaScript fingered for poking cash-spilling holes in Bitcoin wallets If you've got an old money store, check it for hacked gaps. Elon Musk says he's not Satoshi Nakamoto and is pretty rubbish at Bitcoin He had some once, but lost them down the back of the sofa.
Whitepapers Ransomware is Increasing the Risks and Impact to Organizations Ransomware is gaining traction in the criminal community.
Seeking to reduce costs and to provide better customer child abuse imagery found within bitcoins blockchain. The ascendancy of the multi-cloud world gives you some new things to worry about and some old ones to relax about. A network baseline allows for the identification of malicious activity in real time. Sponsored links Get The Register's Headlines in your inbox daily - quick signup! About us Who we are Under the hood Contact us Advertise with us.
Sign up to our Newsletters Join our daily or weekly newsletters, subscribe to a specific section or set News alerts Subscribe.
Champs-Elysee is surely one of the most beautiful avenues in the world. We immediately sold the coins, in order to have a USD trading balance. How To: Disabling the auto wipers on a 159 Alfa Romeo Forum.
He's previously written white papers for blockchain startups and is especially interested in P2P exchanges and DNMs.