Instantaneous and Limiting Behavior of an n-Node Blockchain Under Cyber Attacks from a Single Hacker

Xiufeng Xu () and Liang Hong ()
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Xiufeng Xu: The University of Texas at Dallas
Liang Hong: The University of Texas at Dallas

Chapter Chapter 21 in Business Analytics and Decision Making in Practice, 2024, pp 257-269 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract We investigate the instantaneous and limiting behavior of an n-node blockchain which is under continuous monitoring of the IT department of a company but faces non-stop cyber attacks from a single hacker. The blockchain is functional as far as no data stored on it has been changed, deleted, or locked. Once the IT department detects the attack from the hacker, it will immediately re-set the blockchain, rendering all previous efforts of the hacker in vain. The hacker will not stop until the blockchain is dysfunctional. For arbitrary distributions of the hacking times and detecting times, we derive the limiting functional probability, instantaneous functional probability, and mean functional time of the blockchain. We also show that all these quantities are increasing functions of the number of nodes, substantiating the intuition that the more nodes a blockchain has, the harder it is for a hacker to succeed in a cyber attack.

Keywords: Cyber ransom attacks; Cyber destructive attacks; Instantaneous functional probability; Limiting functional probability; Mean functional times; Operations research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:lnopch:978-3-031-61589-4_21

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-61589-4_21

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