What’s a Sybil Attack & How Do Blockchains Mitigate Them?

31 AUGUST 2018, BENNETT GARNER A Sybil attack is an attempt to control a peer network by creating multiple fake identities. To outside observers, these fake identities appear to be unique users. However, behind the scenes, a single entity controls many identities at once. As a result, that entity can influence the network through additional voting power in a democratic network, or echo chamber messaging in a social network. The United States’ recent trouble with Russian election influence via fake accounts on social media is an easy-to-understand example of a…