Replay Attack And It's Effect On The Blockchain Network

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INTRODUCTION

Replay attack is basically one of the many advanced risk and threats that is exploiting the little vulnerabilities that the blockchain network sometimes possesses regardless of all their advanced security and cryptographic protocols and measures and their promises offer their users security.

A replay can be said to be that type of attack on the blockchain network that compromises the data of the network, it is a security breach whereby the attacker develops a way with which he or she is able to intercept a data or information being transmitted, alter or do whatever and then retransmits it.

A replay attack if successful makes the attacker seem like he or she is legitimate, in this post of mine I will be explaining and discussing some of the devastating and negative impacts and effects of the replay attack on the network and its participants or users most especially.

• COMPROMISING THE NETWORK

Owing to the fact that a replay attack is a security breach kind of something then you can say that one of its primary or basic effect is that it compromises the network it attacks, allowing him or herself to gain illegal or unauthorized access to the network's private information and data.

Additionally, the replay attack if successfully carried out, allows the attacker to be able intercept transmission and execution of transactions, like the authentication of tokens or messages, even giving the attacker the power to authenticate false or altered messages hence making so that no data in the network can be trusted.

The replay attack can also not only be carried out against the network as a whole but also against individuals, to successfully launch a replay attack on individual users of the network all the attacker needs is to get or intercept the transmission of credentials and login information of a particular user and then replay it and gain access to the users account hence making so that the network cannot be trusted.

• FINANCIAL LOSS

Another primary and basic effect, devastating impact of the replay attack is that it leads to financial losses, if the attacker were to intercept the message that authorizes a financial transaction, the attacker could replay it and duplicate it and execute the transaction in an address or wallet of his choosing.

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Additionally, the aftermath of an attack like this which leads to security breach and extortion of the participants and users of the network can lead them to sue or take legal actions against the compromised network, this legal dispute will cost money and in return if there is to be a settlement which will also cost money.

Therefore inorder to avoid this negative and devastating consequence or effect of a succefully launched replay attack, networks and platforms have to actively take preventive steps like employing more robust verification and validation protocols for transactions so as to prevent duplication and unauthorized execution.

• DAMAGES REPUTATION

There is a popular saying that says "once bitten twice shy", meaning that if a network has in a time in its existence been a victim to a replay attack for instance its users and participants are going to be too shy that they believe that is the network's reputation and they will tell others too further damaging the affected networks reputation.

Additionally if the users of the network fall victims and loose their assets for example in the event of replay attack you can be sure to say that there's nothing anyone can say that will allow or convince these users to come back and put their assets and financial transactions in the hands of this same network, not even in five years time.

For a network or platform that is in charge of facilitating and carrying out financial transactions, a good reputation is something they should never loose because the loosing of a good reputation or being given a bad reputation have consequences that might never be able to survive or come back from.

• SERVICE DISRUPTION

Since a replay attack facilitates the malicious duplication of messages and transaction orders by the attacker, it is not far fetched to say that at some point the network will become congested with service requests and as a result the innocent and unaware users will suffer from delays and temporary serious disruption.

Additionally, service disruption can have very cascading consequences especially in cases of emergency there could basically be loss of lives and property as a result of this, also think about what it would take for the network to survive and recover from this service disruption.

Therefore to avoid this in the first place certain preventive measures and protocols could be taken and set for instance, these networks and platforms can implement a mechanism that monitors and control the rate in which requests are made, also mechanism to watch out for any signs of a replay attack.

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CONCLUSION

Finally, I would like to say a very big thank to everyone who made the effort to read and go through this post of mine, I hope that you have been able to learn something new as I have explained and discussed the significant and devastating effects of a replay attack.