Security Analysis of Sharding in the Blockchain System

Yu, D., Xu, H. , Zhang, L. , Cao, B. and Imran, M. (2021) Security Analysis of Sharding in the Blockchain System. In: 2021 IEEE 32nd Annual International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), 13-16 Sep 2021, pp. 1030-1035. ISBN 9781728175867 (doi: 10.1109/PIMRC50174.2021.9569351)

Abstract

The design of sharding aims to solve the scalability challenge in a blockchain network. Typically, by splitting the whole blockchain network into smaller shards, the transaction throughput can be significantly improved. However, distributing fewer attesting nodes for transactions in a shard may cause higher security risks. This paper analyzes the security level of transaction verification in different types of shards and transactions. The analyzed result indicates that the size of shards and validating nodes number may influence the transaction security in shards. And the random distribution of attesting nodes can reduce such influence and improve the reliability of consensus in shards.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Zhang, Professor Lei and Xu, Mr Hao and Imran, Professor Muhammad and Yu, Dachao
• Authors: Yu, D., Xu, H., Zhang, L., Cao, B., and Imran, M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• ISBN: 9781728175867
• Published Online: 22 October 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 IEEE
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher