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Facebook’s Calibra team have published a research paper outlining a new method for Byzantine Fault Tolerance testing

Facebook’s Calibra team has published a research paper outlining a new method for Byzantine fault tolerance (BFT). Named “Twins,” Calibra’s new initiative includes a lightweight method for testing BFT network deployments.

Calibra pioneered Byzantine Fault Tolerance testing strategy

The paper asserts that while BFT systems have had extensive research for more than two decades, the field lacks a principle strategy for testing BFT implementations. The test method runs two versions of a node with the same identity to emulate Byzantine behavior — including equivocation, double voting, and losing internal state.

Calibra asserts that the Twins allow their operators to create systematic Byzantine attack scripts on a scale, execute them in a controlled manner, and check the desired protocol properties.

What is the Byzantine Fault Tolerance system (BFT)?

Byzantine Fault Tolerance is a concept drawn from a 1982 academic paper by Leslie Lamport, Robert Shostak, and Marshall Pease.

The metaphor describes a situation in which a group of Byzantine generals and their forces surround a castle and prepare to attack. To succeed, all parties must attack simultaneously; however, there may be a traitor among them – this will cause the plan to fail.

In the context of a blockchain, metaphor refers to the challenge for a network is seeking to coordinate the threat of malicious agents seeking to disrupt by transmitting false data or incorrect.

Bitcoin achieves Byzantine fault tolerance through a Proof-of-Work algorithm – which requires vast resources investments to make a small impact online.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) is a system that solves the problem of the Byzantine generals problem. This means that the BFT system can continue to function even if some nodes fail or perform malicious actions.

There are many possible solutions to the Byzantine generals problem, so there are ways to build a BFT system. Similarly, there are different ways for a blockchain to gain a faulty Byzantine system, and what we have here is the consensus algorithm.

Twins show promise and limitations

The article outlines the use of Twins to create several attacks on BFT protocols, identifying that two of the attacks – will be determined by Twins within minutes.

Libra project leader David Marcus, tweeted:

While the article asserts that many Byzantine pioneers can be identified using the system, the authors acknowledge that the Twins, including complete noncompliance, do not cover some Byzantine behaviors—enough about the cause of the past – where nodes acted on previous behavior.

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