Bitcoin Forum

I am thinking about starting a Bitcoin Alert service.  If someone hacks the network, we can have an alert service to email or txt everyone to turn on the latest version of the bitcoin client and start generating coins to protect the integrity of the network.  What do you think?

I would subscribe.

I like this idea.  What about using something like Twitter as the medium to spread the word?

I was thinking the same...Twitter, Facebook, email.  I don't know know if I am the best person to be in charge of this alert service.  What do you guys think?  I already of a FB page which I can send a alert to in case something happens.

Wasn't something like this planned to be in the official bitcoin client?
I thought Satoshi already had it about something like this.

Yes, it appeared in version 3.11. Here's the thread discussing it:

"Development of alert system"
http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=898.0

But I think Satoshi took it out of recent builds, to avoid accusations that he was a point of central control (because his key would be used to sign the alert). If I can find the reference to that announcement, I'll post it.


edit: here's the announcement about the removal of "safe mode". It's not clear to me whether the alert itself was removed, or whether the ability to have the alert shut down transaction processing was removed:

Removed safe mode (0.3.19)
http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2228

I think what would be perfect is a way to add that functionality into the main client, with the possibility to register public keys as people you trust for alerts.

I was actually thinking of coding a big red "Panic!" button into the bitcoin-central.net code so it could be shut down from a distance by me sending a text message, or a set of trusted users.

Yes, but what if people don't have the bitcoin client running.  What if they turn it on once a month.  An alert system outside of bitcoin to tell users to turn it on.

bitcoin911 ?

There already is an alert system in Bitcoin. Satoshi can issue an alert that will appear in all clients. In the GUI it will appear in the status bar to the left of "x connections". In RPC it will appear in the "error" field of getinfo. While Bitcoin no longer goes into "safe mode" when these alerts are issued, you can manually poll getinfo in order to shut your site down in case of an alert.

Serious bugs will be posted on the mailing list (http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?forum_name=bitcoin-list) ASAP. New releases are already posted there within days of release.

I didn't like the idea of an in-the-software alert. I was convinced that it wouldn't be a problem, but I do think that having many competing alert systems will yield the best one.
 
There is no reason to think Satoshi will have the fastest reaction time or the best ability to determine that there is a problem. Maybe he will, but offering alternatives is a good idea imo.

You could do one via DNS. Specify a TXT record and have people poll it. If it contains anything, you triggered an alert. This is DoS-resistant because the DNS uses a lot of caching and the responses are small.

The record itself could contain a URL to a signed message with more info. Possibly DNSSEC could be used.