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How do you prove that no one manually added or edited database rows? How do you store the transaction logs & verify their accuracy & authenticity? By the time
by beambot 4y ago
How do you prove that no one manually added or edited database rows? How do you store the transaction logs & verify their accuracy & authenticity?
By the time you build a system with historical "proofs" with enough replication, you'll basically have invented a Blockchain with more complexity.
- Quekid5 4y agoWrite-once physical storage?
- yellowapple 4y agoI'm sure it's theoretically possible to write a database that only allows reads/inserts and that runs off a CD-R burner, but it's weird that I haven't seen that in the wild. Seems like something that should be doable with SQLite's VFS support (and in fact I'm pretty sure the existing demo VFS for read-only support gets you most of the way there). In any case, "write-once" media can still be rewritten; the same lasers that etch data into a CD-R can do so to destroy the same data. You're going to want redundancy/backups and you're going to want each new row in the table to cryptographically reference the previous (such that any data destruction invalidates all subsequent rows) - by which point you've reinvented most of what constitutes a blockchain anyway.
- Quekid5 4y agoI guess I should have specified that I was being a bit tongue in cheek. I do believe Write-Once was actually a thing with the banking mainframe I was acquainted with in my youth. It wasn't a CD-R thing, it was just an IBM thing which enforced write-only at the BIOS/Hardware level. Honestly, I'm not sure, I was young and impressionable :D. IOW, I might have been misled. Anyway... All you need is logically write-once with proper signing, audits, etc. and you'll be just as close to unforgeable, etc. etc. as reality demands. Heck, even journald on Linux provides unforgeable log entries. It is vulnerable to a destruction attack, so whatevs. Everything is. Even a blockchain -- witness the rugpulls. > by which point you've reinvented most of what constitutes a blockchain anyway. I love that. Anyway, I'm here to dissuade you. Do whatever you want. Just be aware of the potential consequences.
- Zerverus 4y agoOh gosh how does anything in the world work today without the blockchain
- yata69420 4y agoWe mostly rely on trust and then prosecute frauds that are "worth" prosecuting (based on dollar value, frequency of fraud, and likelihood of recovery).
- benjaminsuch 4y agoI think the parent was sarcasm
- EdwardDiego 4y agoHow do you defend against a 51% attack in an environment where Bitcoin mining is increasingly uneconomic?
- randomran01234 4y agoSwitch to proof of stake which has better defense mechanisms against 51% attacks.
- Termitiono 4y agoJust that we already do that successful while Blockchain now needs miners.