Research Assistant Professor at @IMDEA_Networks leading the Distributed Systems and Networks (DistSys) Group. Previously a postdoc w/ @discoETH.
Joined December 2011
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Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
Perfect opportunity to share that I’ve joined the @ethereumfndn protocol consensus team, where we’re working on a new consensus protocol with fast finality 🚀 After my PhD research on fast finality, I'm super excited for what's ahead!
Let's bring fast finality asap to @ethereum !
We published an update on our related work and projects last Friday, and on this topic, these are the relevant points:
- Shorten slot times to increase the heartbeat of the network and decrease every delay: Time to inclusion / fast confirmation / finality.
See post by @misilva73 for the latest on this work! ethresear.ch/t/an-analysis-o…
- Expose in clients the fast confirmation rule for strong confirmation in 1-3 blocks (10-30s) using the attesting weight, get apps/infra to use it where sensible, instead of waiting for full finality (13-19mins).
(Re-)Specification effort with @robsaltini @mkalinin2 among others arxiv.org/abs/2405.00549
- Investigate Gasper/beacon chain changes proposed by @VitalikButerin to pipeline better fork choice/dynamic availability data and finality data ethresear.ch/t/lmd-ghost-wit…
- Deploy a new consensus mechanism. We have one with three-slot-finality (arxiv.org/abs/2411.00558), also diving into fast BFT protocols with @yannvon @luca_zanolini to decrease time-to-finality further
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
🚨 New paper out!
We analyze arbitrage strategies on @Polymarket and show how traders extracted $40M over one year by exploiting inefficiencies.
With @lululixious , Vahid Ghafouri, Guillermo Suarez
1/🧵 Thread 👇
🚀 PhD opportunity! Join the Distributed Systems and Networks Group @IMDEA_Networks to research blockchain & P2P network measurements. Work on scalability, security & performance of decentralized systems!
📍 Madrid! 🇪🇸🏙️🌞
📅 Apply by April 29, 2025 (AoE)
👉 Details: networks.imdea.org/job/phd-p…
Honored to talk about the P2P layer of blockchain systems and present some of the many attacks that exist at the network layer this week in Lisbon at the #LxBWS2025 winter school!
Day 2 at #LxBWS2025 was all about smart contracts & security!
Christof Torres covered the basics, while Massimo Bartoletti explored smart contract paradigms—UTXO-based, stateful & stateless account-based models.
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
Our paper demonstrating that Ethereum validators can be deanonymized has been accepted at USENIX Security 2025!
The P2P network leaks a lot of information, posing a significant security concern, while offering insights into voting power decentralization in Ethereum.
An updated link to the PhD job posting, the current deadline is February 14th, but then it will likely be renewed again (unless I find an amazing student 🤞 ).
networks.imdea.org/job/phd-p…
Happy to announce I have opened up another PhD position with my new little group at @IMDEA_Networks in Madrid! If you are interested in getting deep protocol-level insight into P2P and blockchain networks, and measuring their behaviors and attack vectors, let’s connect!
Happy to spend a few days in the Swiss alps chatting with many of the leading minds in the blockchain/defi research space, and to share some recent work done with my colleagues @discoETH @yannvon @liobaheimbach
Wrapping up Day 1 talks on consensus & storage at the @initc3org 2025 Winter Retreat:
.@lululixious from ETH Zürich shared her presentation "The Ethereum Consensus Network has a Privacy Issue"
The problem? The Ethereum consensus network doesn’t protect validator anonymity, so nodes can easily identify validators
Lucianna shared insights into the distribution, geographic locations, and hosting organizations of validators. She highlights the privacy risks and proposes solutions to improve validator anonymity.
Happy to announce I have opened up another PhD position with my new little group at @IMDEA_Networks in Madrid! If you are interested in getting deep protocol-level insight into P2P and blockchain networks, and measuring their behaviors and attack vectors, let’s connect!
Know someone who might be interested? Please pass this along! Check the link or reach out with any questions. (fyi the application deadline will be extended into a new call shortly)
networks.imdea.org/job/phd-p…
AFT’24 has started at OnB in Vienna with many great papers over the next few days. Check out aftconf.github.ion/aft24 for the full program and proceedings! linkedin.com/posts/complexit…
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
w post on EthResear.ch!
Privacy Problems in the P2P Network and What They Tell Us
By:
- Lioba Heimbach
- Yann Vonlanthen
- Juan Villacis
- Lucianna Kiffer
- Roger Wattenhofer
🔗 ethresear.ch/t/20463
Highlights:
- A simple and cost-effective method can deanonymize over 15% of Ethereum validators in just three days.
- The method works by observing the messages validators send in the Ethereum P2P network and linking them to IP addresses.
- Most validators are hosted on cloud providers, with Amazon data centers hosting the largest number.
- The research highlights potential security risks, such as DoS attacks on block proposers, which could halt the network.
- Mitigations include increasing subnet participation, running validators across multiple nodes, private peering agreements, and exploring anonymous gossiping protocols.
ELI5:
This research shows that it's possible to figure out who some of the Ethereum validators are by watching the messages they send in the network. This is a privacy issue because it can link a validator's identity to their IP address. The researchers used a simple and cheap method to identify over 15% of Ethereum validators in just three days. They also discuss the implications of this and suggest ways to protect validators' privacy.
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
☠️Running an Ethereum validator node means that any minimally sophisticated party can link your IP address to your ETH addresses.
Deanonymizing Ethereum Validators: The P2P Network Has a Privacy Issue by @liobaheimbach,@yannvon,@lululixious
Scary read: arxiv.org/pdf/2409.04366
ALT They successfully deanonymize with a pretty simple and elegant technique 84.42% of Ethereum peers that run at least one validator.
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
Our work on Ethereum validator anonymity is now online (thanks for sharing, @Istvan_A_Seres)!
Excited to be presenting it this Friday at the TUM Blockchain Conference. Shout out to @tbc_munich for hosting!
☠️Running an Ethereum validator node means that any minimally sophisticated party can link your IP address to your ETH addresses.
Deanonymizing Ethereum Validators: The P2P Network Has a Privacy Issue by @liobaheimbach,@yannvon,@lululixious
Scary read: arxiv.org/pdf/2409.04366
ALT They successfully deanonymize with a pretty simple and elegant technique 84.42% of Ethereum peers that run at least one validator.
I’m looking to hire a PhD student to join my new group at @IMDEA_Networks in Madrid! If you’re into P2P networks, blockchain, or cryptocurrency protocols (theory or measurements), let’s connect! Know someone who might be interested? Please pass this along!
networks.imdea.org/job/phd-p…
Reminder that TOMORROW is the deadline for students to apply for a TRAVEL GRANT for IMC’24 taking place in Madrid this November! Tell your students! @ACM_IMC_2024
📢 Coming to Madrid for IMC? The call for travel grants is open 👉conferences.sigcomm.org/imc/…
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
📢 Coming to Madrid for IMC? The call for travel grants is open 👉conferences.sigcomm.org/imc/…
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
We are happy to announce Neha Narula as a keynote speaker for the Advances in Financial Technologies (AFT) conference in Vienna! Join us! Registration is already open: aftconf.github.io/aft24/atte…
Thanks to @gnosispay for joining our sponsors!
#AFT2024 @neha @CSHVienna @oenb
Lucianna Kiffer retweeted
We’re happy to have Charles M. Kahn as the keynote speaker for this year’s Advances in Financial Technologies (AFT) conference. He emphasizes the crucial tech-regulatory collaboration in financial services.
#AFT2024
@CSHVienna @oenb @uniinnsbruck
