Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum

Xiaoqi Li; Ting Chen; Xiapu Luo; Jiangshan Yu

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_20

Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum

Xiaoqi Li, Ting Chen, Xiapu Luo, Jiangshan Yu

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Being the most popular permissionless blockchain that supports smart contracts, Ethereum allows any user to create accounts on it. However, not all accounts matter. For example, the accounts due to attacks can be removed. In this paper, we conduct the first investigation on erasable accounts that can be removed to save system resources and even users’ money (i.e., ETH or gas). In particular, we propose and develop a novel tool named Glaser, which analyzes the State DataBase of Ethereum to discover five kinds of erasable accounts. The experimental results show that Glaser can accurately reveal 508,482 erasable accounts and these accounts lead to users wasting more than 106 million dollars. Glaser can help stop further economic loss caused by these detected accounts. Moreover, Glaser characterizes the attacks/behaviors related to detected erasable accounts through graph analysis.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Information Security - 23rd International Conference, ISC 2020, Proceedings
Editors	Willy Susilo, Robert H. Deng, Fuchun Guo, Yannan Li, Rolly Intan
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages	352-371
Number of pages	20
ISBN (Print)	9783030629731
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_20
Publication status	Published - 2020
Event	23rd International Conference on Information Security, ISC 2020 - Bali, Indonesia Duration: 16 Dec 2020 → 18 Dec 2020

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume	12472 LNCS
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	23rd International Conference on Information Security, ISC 2020
Country/Territory	Indonesia
City	Bali
Period	16/12/20 → 18/12/20

Keywords

Ethereum
P2P system security
System maintainability

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Theoretical Computer Science
Computer Science(all)

More information

10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_20

Cite this

Li, X., Chen, T., Luo, X., & Yu, J. (2020). Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum. In W. Susilo, R. H. Deng, F. Guo, Y. Li, & R. Intan (Eds.), Information Security - 23rd International Conference, ISC 2020, Proceedings (pp. 352-371). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 12472 LNCS). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_20

Li, Xiaoqi ; Chen, Ting ; Luo, Xiapu et al. / Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum. Information Security - 23rd International Conference, ISC 2020, Proceedings. editor / Willy Susilo ; Robert H. Deng ; Fuchun Guo ; Yannan Li ; Rolly Intan. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2020. pp. 352-371 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)).

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title = "Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum",

abstract = "Being the most popular permissionless blockchain that supports smart contracts, Ethereum allows any user to create accounts on it. However, not all accounts matter. For example, the accounts due to attacks can be removed. In this paper, we conduct the first investigation on erasable accounts that can be removed to save system resources and even users{\textquoteright} money (i.e., ETH or gas). In particular, we propose and develop a novel tool named Glaser, which analyzes the State DataBase of Ethereum to discover five kinds of erasable accounts. The experimental results show that Glaser can accurately reveal 508,482 erasable accounts and these accounts lead to users wasting more than 106 million dollars. Glaser can help stop further economic loss caused by these detected accounts. Moreover, Glaser characterizes the attacks/behaviors related to detected erasable accounts through graph analysis.",

keywords = "Ethereum, P2P system security, System maintainability",

author = "Xiaoqi Li and Ting Chen and Xiapu Luo and Jiangshan Yu",

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Li, X, Chen, T, Luo, X & Yu, J 2020, Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum. in W Susilo, RH Deng, F Guo, Y Li & R Intan (eds), Information Security - 23rd International Conference, ISC 2020, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 12472 LNCS, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, pp. 352-371, 23rd International Conference on Information Security, ISC 2020, Bali, Indonesia, 16/12/20. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_20

Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum. / Li, Xiaoqi; Chen, Ting; Luo, Xiapu et al.
Information Security - 23rd International Conference, ISC 2020, Proceedings. ed. / Willy Susilo; Robert H. Deng; Fuchun Guo; Yannan Li; Rolly Intan. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2020. p. 352-371 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 12472 LNCS).

Research output: Chapter in book / Conference proceeding › Conference article published in proceeding or book › Academic research › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum

AU - Li, Xiaoqi

AU - Chen, Ting

AU - Luo, Xiapu

AU - Yu, Jiangshan

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Being the most popular permissionless blockchain that supports smart contracts, Ethereum allows any user to create accounts on it. However, not all accounts matter. For example, the accounts due to attacks can be removed. In this paper, we conduct the first investigation on erasable accounts that can be removed to save system resources and even users’ money (i.e., ETH or gas). In particular, we propose and develop a novel tool named Glaser, which analyzes the State DataBase of Ethereum to discover five kinds of erasable accounts. The experimental results show that Glaser can accurately reveal 508,482 erasable accounts and these accounts lead to users wasting more than 106 million dollars. Glaser can help stop further economic loss caused by these detected accounts. Moreover, Glaser characterizes the attacks/behaviors related to detected erasable accounts through graph analysis.

AB - Being the most popular permissionless blockchain that supports smart contracts, Ethereum allows any user to create accounts on it. However, not all accounts matter. For example, the accounts due to attacks can be removed. In this paper, we conduct the first investigation on erasable accounts that can be removed to save system resources and even users’ money (i.e., ETH or gas). In particular, we propose and develop a novel tool named Glaser, which analyzes the State DataBase of Ethereum to discover five kinds of erasable accounts. The experimental results show that Glaser can accurately reveal 508,482 erasable accounts and these accounts lead to users wasting more than 106 million dollars. Glaser can help stop further economic loss caused by these detected accounts. Moreover, Glaser characterizes the attacks/behaviors related to detected erasable accounts through graph analysis.

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T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

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ER -

Li X, Chen T, Luo X, Yu J. Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum. In Susilo W, Deng RH, Guo F, Li Y, Intan R, editors, Information Security - 23rd International Conference, ISC 2020, Proceedings. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. 2020. p. 352-371. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-62974-8_20

Characterizing Erasable Accounts in Ethereum

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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