- Cardano defended its reputation as a highly secure and stable network.
- A spam attacker failed to crash the network and lost transaction fees instead.
- Cardano teams collaborate on a fix to mitigate future attacks further.
Although critics frequently target Cardano for its perceived lack of impactful marketing and limited integration with the broader crypto ecosystem, its security and reliability are undeniably strong. Since its launch, Cardano has maintained an impeccable security record, never experiencing a network hack or system downtime.
On Tuesday, Cardano’s reputation was tested when an attacker launched a spam attack. The attack caused only a minor slowdown, with no noticeable effect on operations, reinforcing Cardano’s reputation for resilience. In response, Cardano teams are currently coordinating an upgrade to further fortify the network against future attacks of this nature.
Cardano Working on Fix
Cardano’s reputation as a high-security network remained intact on Tuesday as it repelled a spam attack with minimal impact. Although the network’s resilience was evident, Intersect, a Cardano member organization, took proactive measures by announcing the coordination of a technical task force to assess the attack and develop solutions to further “blunt this kind of spam attack.”
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Intersect further revealed that once the task force concludes its investigation and tests a technical solution, a node upgrade will be distributed to Stake Pool Operators (SPOs) for deployment.
While the spam attack did increase network load above normal traffic levels, leading to some SPOs being “negatively affected,” the overall impact was minimal. Intersect reported only a “small impact on overall transaction timings and some reduction in chain density.”
Chain density refers to a metric measuring block coefficient against slot duration to assess network health.
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Anastasia Labs founder Philip Disarro commented that the attacker’s efforts were futile, essentially “donating to the open-source smart contract development work.” Disarro’s post revealed that the attacker spent a mere 155 ADA ($61) before abandoning their efforts.
Cardano’s success in repelling the spam attack was due to its well-thought-out network architecture and robust protocols, which worked as designed.
Solid Network Architecture
Chiming in on the spam attack, Cardano DRep Cardano YOD₳ praised the network’s design for effectively repelling the attack. Cardano YOD₳ explained the blockchain’s distributed structure, featuring numerous nodes each with its own mem-pool capable of handling around 600 standard transactions, significantly complicates such attacks.
Cardano’s resilience to spam attacks is strengthened by its demand-driven protocol, with each node autonomously managing its data rate and workload. Additionally, randomized slot leaders in proof-of-stake systems provide an added layer of protection, as the likelihood of an attacker targeting a specific slot leader is minimal.
Cardano YOD₳ calculated that a successful spam attack would require attacking all 3,000 mempools simultaneously, which would cost around 300,000 ADA, or around $118k. Cardano YOD₳ recommended increasing network throughput to make spam attacks prohibitively more expensive.
On the Flipside
- The cost-benefit ratio for attackers is crucial in deterring spam attacks for any blockchain.
- The incident has been heavily memed on social media.
- A memecoin called DDoS was created to mark the attack. DDoS achieved a fully diluted value of $1 million but has since dropped to $291k, and continues to drop.
Why This Matters
Cardano’s resilience in the face of this attack showcases the network’s robust design. Yet its market cap ranking continues to lag layer 1 rivals, suggesting the market values security less than other traits.
The Cardano community continues to push for a major USD stablecoin on the chain:
Cardano Users Demand USDT Consideration after Tether Shuffle
SEC Chair Gensler remains tight-lipped on Ethereum ETF approvals:
Ethereum ETF Applications ‘Going Smoothly’ Says Gensler
