If everybody on the network stores a copy of the ledger can t someone distribute an infected ledger and thus spread viruses etc

Question

In blockchain, each participant stores a copy both of the block and of the ledger. Can't a hacked start distributing harmful ledgers?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Hi @Noa!

Even if everyone has a copy of both the block and the ledger, one cannot just add a infected/malicious/false ledger on the Blockchain. This is because of the consensus mechanism. For a ledger to be added to the Blockchain, the transaction has to be validated and verified by atleast 51% of the network. Suppose there are a hundred nodes in a network and one node tries to upload a infected ledger, then the other nodes (99% of the network) will reject this transactions.

Comments

But what if the attacker disguises the attack as a legitimate transaction, for example transferring 10$, and inside the transaction they embed the attack. The transaction will be approved because money was transferred, but the injection will also be there. is there a mechanism to protect the blockchain network from that sort of thing other than the majority? and even there isn't a 51% majority, there will still be enough computers that will be harmed. Doesn't this mean that blockchain could be a convenient platform for vast scale attacks?

Thanks for your answer! it really got me thinking (as you can see lol)