Online Courses
Blockchain Security
Online Courses
Blockchain Security
  • Blockchain Security
  • Fundamentals of Blockchain Security
    • Introduction to blockchain
    • The promises of blockchain
    • Inside the blockchain hype
    • Blockchain structures
    • What is public-key cryptography?
      • How does public-key cryptography work?
      • Public-key cryptography in the blockchain
    • Security assumptions of public-key cryptography
      • Quantum computing
    • Hash function in blockchain
      • Properties of hash functions
      • Hash functions in the blockchain
      • Blockchain security hash key functions
    • Quiz
  • Consensus Algorithm Security
    • Introduction
      • The Byzantine generals problem
      • Security via scarcity
      • Common blockchain consensus algorithms
      • The longest chain rule
    • Proof of work
      • Inside PoW mining
    • Attacking proof of work
      • The 51% attack
      • Denial of service: Artificial difficulty increases
    • Proof of stake
      • Choosing the block creator
    • Attacking PoS consensus
      • XX% attack and the PoS "timebomb"
      • Fake stake attacks
      • Long-range attack
      • Nothing at stake problem
      • Sour milk attack
    • Quiz
  • Blockchain in Action
    • Nodes and network
      • Inside the node
      • How blocks are created
    • Attacking block creation
      • Denial-of-service
      • Frontrunning
      • Selfish mining
      • SPV mining
    • Attacking blockchain nodes
      • Blockchain software misconfiguration
      • Denial of service
      • Malicious transactions
    • Attacking the blockchain network
      • Eclipse attack
      • Routing attack
      • Sybil attack
    • Quiz
  • Smart Contract Security
    • What are smart contracts?
      • Smart contracts
    • General programming vulnerabilities
      • Arithmetic vulnerabilities
      • Right-to-left control character
    • Blockchain vulnerabilities
    • Ethereum vulnerabilities
    • Quiz
  • Beyond the Basics
    • Alternative distributed ledger architectures
      • Introduction to DAGs
      • Introduction to block lattices
      • Introduction to sidechains
    • Second-level blockchain protocols
      • How a state channel works
    • Advanced cryptography in blockchain
      • Multisignatures
      • Zero-knowledge proofs
      • Stealth addresses
      • Ring signatures
      • Commitment schemes
    • Quiz
  • Cumulative Quiz
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  1. Consensus Algorithm Security
  2. Proof of work

Inside PoW mining

The goal of mining is to find a block that is acceptable to the rest of the blockchain network. This block needs to have a header hash that is less than the difficulty threshold and contains only valid transactions.

A block header contains different values, such as the previous block hash, the hash of the transactions, a timestamp, and a nonce. The nonce is important because it allows miners to create block headers with different hashes. This is necessary because if all the hashes were very similar, it would be difficult to find a block that meets the requirements.

The security of the mining process depends on the security of the hash function used. If the hash function is weak or broken, it can compromise the security of the blockchain. It's important to assume that the hash function is secure when talking about attacks in blockchain.

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Last updated 9 months ago