Blockchain and the Emerging Trends for Improving “Smart Contract” Security

Abstract

Blockchain technology is believed to be a highly secured solution for it is a decentralized ledger guarded by cryptographic techniques. However, the recent successful ‘51% Attack’ [1] on Ethereum Blockchain network, raised concerns regarding the trustworthiness of this technology. This paper addresses the causes and solutions to that attack. Private Transactions like the techniques implemented in Parity Ethereum and Quorum are introduced. Proof of Stack (POS) is another approach using economic incentives instead of intensive computations to guard against attacks while reducing power consumed. They are considered mitigation to the ‘51% Attack’. The use of Second Factor Authentication at the Smart Contract level is also addressed.