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Author Topic: BitCoin Bruteforce hack - Question.  (Read 950 times)
zach (OP)
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November 15, 2012, 05:08:35 AM
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im a total noob on bitcoin'ism and i've done some readings on how they work, roughly. Here's a question, since bitcoins mining is done thru bruteforce hack, wouldnt this be susceptible to hackers/crackers/govs or whatever you call them. from what i read, a block=transaction thus bitcoins mining is cracking the transaction, how is this even secure? and as we know it, anything that is built by human can be broken.
DannyHamilton
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November 15, 2012, 05:42:26 AM
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. . . Here's a question, since bitcoins mining is done thru bruteforce hack . . .
That isn't a very good explanation of how mining works.

Mining involves securing transactions by collecting multiple transactions together along with some additional information and calculating a SHA256 hash.  If the value of the hash is less than a specified target, then the block is complete.  If the value of the hash is not less than a specified target, then the miner increments a number in the header of the block and tries again.  This process is repeated until somebody finds a hash that has a low enough value.

This makes it difficult for anyone to modify the contents of the block, because that would change the hash and it would no longer be considered valid by the network.  Since each new block contains the hash of the previous block, it would require someone with more computing power than every other miner combined to catch up with the new blocks being created in order to remove or replace transactions in the past.

. . . wouldnt this be susceptible to hackers/crackers/govs or whatever you call them. . .

Since the hash is a mathematical formula that is very fast/easy to generate from the data, but it is impossible to determine the data from the hash, I'm not sure what part of this process you are concerned about.
 
. . . from what i read, a block=transaction
It sounds like you either didn't understand what you read, or your source of information was mistaken.  A block is generally composed of a header with various pieces of information along with a list of mutiple transactions.

. . .thus bitcoins mining is cracking the transaction, how is this even secure?

No, there is no "cracking the transaction" occurring.

. . . anything that is built by human can be broken.
Then how do internet banking and other secure forms of internet communication work?  Clearly we humans through the study of cryptography have discovered ways to secure information.  I suppose that it is possible that at some time in the future weaknesses in these cryptographic algorithms may be discovered.  If that happens, bitcoin will most likely adjust to newer algorithms that are still secure.
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