“Great bitcoin Collider” is a threat to security
By Prempal Singh
During the year in the field of cryptography, a group of enthusiasts trying to crack one of the algorithms used to create bitcoin wallets.
The project was called “Big bitcoin Collider” (BBK), by analogy with the Large Hadron Collider – the largest research facility for accelerating elementary particles.
BBK is designed to search for conflicts of cryptographic hash functions. To gain access to funds in bitcoin wallet needs a private key, generated simultaneously with bitcoin address. Theoretically, a number of private keys suitable for any bitcoin wallet, but to detect them using the brute force required enormous computing power. BBC aims to solve this problem. The project is to use the power of computers, whose owners voluntarily agreed to install special software on them.
BBK has caused quite a mixed reaction. If someone will be able to get the private key for access to other people’s wallets, it is possible that he had stolen the money stored in them. However, the main problem lies elsewhere. One of the members of the board Reddit found in the code BBK something suspicious. Firstly, the program is running on the system is completely transparent and without the user’s permission. Secondly, it can receive updates from anyone, making the system vulnerable to hacker attacks.
“Vulnerabilities in software that allows you to remotely execute code, are very common, but in this case they are part of a functional,” – said the expert in the field of cryptography Rayan Kasteluchchi (Ryan Castellucci) Edition Motherboard.
Is vulnerability deliberately left the backdoor, or just drawback developer is unknown. According to one of authors of the project under the name of Rico, BBK allow remote code execution in order to remove themselves from the system in case the user tries to make it some changes. “It’s protection from malicious attacks. Ironically, this functionality itself is perceived as malicious, “- said Rico.