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Sybil attack

A Sybil attack lets one adversary present many network identities. Bitcoin separates peer count from consensus weight and ties block production to Proof of Work.

Sybil resistance does not prohibit fake peers. Multiplying identities alone creates neither signatures from others' keys, valid coins nor work; it can still support routing, eclipse and surveillance attacks.

John Douceur described the Sybil attack in 2002: one entity impersonates multiple independent participants. Pseudonyms are easy to create, although obtaining suitable addresses or connections can cost resources. [John R. Douceur — The Sybil Attack]

Bitcoin has no global registry proving that one node corresponds to one person. A different IP address does not itself prove an independent operator. [John R. Douceur — The Sybil Attack] [Bitcoin Developer Guide — P2P Network]

A Full Node checks consensus rules independently. A majority of connected peers cannot vote an invalid transaction into validity. [Satoshi NakamotoBitcoin whitepaper] [The Bitcoin Backbone Protocol]

Proof of Work ties weight in valid-chain selection to cumulative work. Advertising more identities does not by itself increase hashrate or chainwork. [Satoshi NakamotoBitcoin whitepaper] [The Bitcoin Backbone Protocol]

Multiplying identities cannot forge another party's signature, create coins outside issuance rules or impose an invalid block. Checking these rules remains the Full Node's task. [Satoshi NakamotoBitcoin whitepaper] [The Bitcoin Backbone Protocol]

Controlled peers can compete for space in a victim's address tables and connections. If they help capture its relevant connections, an eclipse attack can result; many identities alone do not prove complete isolation. [Bitcoin Developer Guide — P2P Network] [Heilman et al. — Eclipse Attacks on Bitcoin]

Diverse outbound connections, address bucketing and trial feeler connections in Bitcoin Core limit concentration. These are defenses, not proof that every peer is independent or a guarantee against isolation. [Bitcoin Core v29.0 — Peer connections] [Heilman et al. — Eclipse Attacks on Bitcoin]

IP addresses and Tor service addresses help route traffic; they are not consensus credentials. Multiple addresses can belong to one operator, while multiple users can share a network path. [Bitcoin Developer Guide — P2P Network] [Bitcoin Core v29.0 — Peer connections]

Proof of Work limits identity abuse in history selection, but does not solve every P2P abuse. Flooding, surveillance and manipulation of message availability require a separate threat model. [John R. Douceur — The Sybil Attack] [Heilman et al. — Eclipse Attacks on Bitcoin] [The Bitcoin Backbone Protocol]

A public counter of reachable nodes counts neither people nor votes on rules. Security is assessed through adversarial resources, network relationships and independent validation, not identity count alone. [John R. Douceur — The Sybil Attack] [Bitcoin Developer Guide — P2P Network] [The Bitcoin Backbone Protocol]

For the clearest picture, read this entry together with Nakamoto consensus, Eclipse attack, Selfish mining, Block propagation. The reverse links also lead from Byzantine Generals Problem, Eclipse attack.

DOC · 001John R. Douceur — The Sybil AttackPrimaryDOC · 002Satoshi Nakamoto — Bitcoin whitepaperPrimaryDOC · 003Bitcoin Developer Guide — P2P NetworkDocumentationDOC · 004Bitcoin Core v29.0 — Peer connectionsDocumentationDOC · 005Heilman et al. — Eclipse Attacks on BitcoinPrimaryDOC · 006The Bitcoin Backbone ProtocolPrimary
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