# Ethan Heilman (Ph.D) - Title: Cryptologist - Email: Ethan.R.Heilman@gmail.com - GitHub: https://github.com/EthanHeilman - Website: https://www.ethanheilman.com/ ## Education - **Boston University** | Boston, MA *Ph.D. Computer Science, Advised by Sharon Goldberg and Leonid Reyzin* | *2022* - **Bridgewater State University** | Bridgewater, MA *B.S. Computer Science* | *2007* ## Research Areas As a Network Security researcher I investigate the security of Bitcoin, blockchains and other deployed global scale networks. My work employs tools from system-building, measurement, modeling and simulation, network security and cryptology. ## Employment - **Cloudflare** | Boston, MA *Principal Systems Engineer* | *2024 - present* - **OpenPubkey** | Linux Foundation *Technical Steering Committee Chair* | *2024 - present* - **BastionZero/Arwen/Commonwealth Crypto** | Boston, MA *Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer* | *2017 - 2024* - **Boston University** | Boston, MA *Research Fellow* | *2013 - present* - **Pubget Inc** | Boston, MA *Senior Software Engineer* | *2011 - 2013* - **Broad Institute** | Cambridge, MA *Software Engineer* | *2008 - 2011* - **Jumptap Inc** | Cambridge, MA *Software Engineer* | *2007 - 2008* ## Recent Awards, Grants & Honors - BastionZero Runner Up for the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Contest | 2022 - Nominated for a Pwnie Award (Best Cryptographic Attack) | 2018 - [ETHEREUM Bounty Program (10000 pts)](https://bounty.ethereum.org/) | 2018 - IETF Applied Networking Research Prize (ANRP) | 2014 - MIT Bitcoin Evangelism Award | 2014 - Financial Crypto'14 Travel Grant | 2014 - Google Security Honorable Mention | 2012 - Juniper Networks Travel Support for ECRYPT II Hash Workshop | 2011 ## Publications 1. 2024 **ColliderScript: Covenants in Bitcoin via 160-bit hash collisions**, E. Heilman, V. Kolobov, A. Levy, A. Poelstra 1. 2023 **OpenPubkey: Augmenting OpenID Connect with User-held Signing Keys**, E. Heilman, L. Mugnier, A. Filippidis, S. Goldberg, S. Lipman, Y. Marcus, M. Milano, S. Premkumar, C. Unrein 1. 2020 **Cryptanalysis of Curl-P and other attacks on the IOTA cryptocurrency**, IACR Transactions on Symmetric Cryptology 2020, E. Heilman, N. Narula, G. Tanzer, J. Lovejoy, M. Colavita, M. Virza, T. Dryja 1. 2020 **The Arwen Trading Protocols**, International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security 2020, E. Heilman, S. Lipmann, S. Goldberg 1. 2018 **Low-Resource Eclipse Attacks on Ethereum's Peer-to-Peer Network**, Y. Marcus, E. Heilman, S. Goldberg 1. 2018 **The rewards of selfish mining: technical perspective**, Communications of the ACM, S. Goldberg, E. Heilman 1. 2018 **An Empirical Analysis of Traceability in the Monero Blockchain**, Proceedings on Privacy Enhancing Technologies, M. Möser, K. Soska, E. Heilman, K. Lee, H. Heffan, S. Srivastava, K. Hogan, J. Hennessey, A. Miller, A. Narayanan, N. Christin 1. 2017 **Atomically trading with roger: Gambling on the success of a hardfork**, International Workshop on Data Privacy Management Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology, P. McCorry, E. Heilman, A. Miller 1. 2017 **TumbleBit: An Untrusted Bitcoin-Compatible Anonymous Payment Hub**, Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS 2017), E. Heilman, L. Alshenibr, F. Baldimtsi, A. Scafuro, S. Goldberg 1. 2016 **Blindly Signed Contracts: Anonymous On-Blockchain and Off-Blockchain Bitcoin Transactions**, 3rd Workshop on Bitcoin and Blockchain Research at 20th International Conference of Financial Cryptography, E. Heilman, F. Baldimtsi, S. Goldberg 1. 2015 **Eclipse Attacks on Bitcoin's Peer-to-Peer Network**, USENIX Security'15, E. Heilman, A. Kendler, A. Zohar, S. Goldberg 1. 2014 **From the Consent of the Routed: Improving the Transparency of the RPKI**, SIGCOMM'14, E. Heilman, D. Cooper, L. Reyzin and S. Goldberg 1. 2014 **One Weird Trick to Stop Selfish Miners: Fresh Bitcoins, A Solution for the Honest Miner**, E. Heilman, Poster at FC'14 1. 2013 **On the risk of misbehaving RPKI authorities**, Proceedings of the Twelfth ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks, D. Cooper, E. Heilman, K. Brogle, L. Reyzin, S. Goldberg 1. 2011 **Restoring the Differential Resistance of MD6**, ECRYPT II Hash Workshop, E. Heilman 1. 2009 **Attacks Against Permute-Transform-Xor Compression Functions and Spectral Hash Collisions**, NIST mailing list, Cryptology ePrint Archive Report, E. Heilman 1. 2007 **Poster: Developing low-cost AVL and Web Mapping for Real Time Intermodal Customer Information Using a GPS Cell Phones and Google Maps**, U. Shama, L. Harman, E. Heilman, J. Baltikauskas 1. 2006 **Metrowest Suburban Mobility Research, Development and Technology Project**, Office of Transportation Planning, Executive Office Of Transportation, Draft., E. Heilman, U. Shama and L. Harman ## Selected Presentations 1. **OpenPubkey: Augmenting OpenID Connect with User held Signing Keys** - Cloudflare Research, Remote, 2024 - Cloudflare Eng Presents, Remote, 2024 - BSides Cambridge, Belmont, Massachusetts, 2023 1. **OP_CAT** - OP NEXT, Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT), Boston, Massachusetts, 2024 - MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative (Research Talk), Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2024 1. **Signing Docker Official Images Using OpenPubkey** [(youtube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBmzLKNO_M8) - DockerCon, Los Angeles, California, 2023 1. **An Exploration of Bitcoin's P2P Network and its Security** - Bitcoin Research Day, New York, New York, 2023 1. **Cryptanalysis of Curl-P and Other Attacks on the IOTA Cryptocurrency** - 27th annual Fast Software Encryption conference (remote), Athens, Greece, 2020 - BlackHat USA, Las Vegas, 2018 - Boston Blockchain Network, Boston, 2017 1. **Near Misses: What Could've Gone Wrong** - Cryptoeconomic Systems Summit, Cambridge, MA, 2019 1. **Bitcoin Eclipse Attacks (Survey)** - Chaincode Labs, New York, 2018 1. **xCrow Protocol for Fast Crosschain Atomic Swaps** - Binary District "Off the chain" workshop, Berlin, 2018 1. **Cross-Chain Swaps** - Dev++ Bitcoin Edge/BC-2, Keio University, Japan, 2018 - Dev++ Bitcoin Edge, Stanford University, 2017 - BC-2, Tokyo, 2017 1. **Atomically trading with roger: Gambling on the success of a hardfork** - Scaling Bitcoin, Stanford, 2017 1. **TumbleBit: An Untrusted Bitcoin-Compatible Anonymous Payment Hub** - NDSS'17: The Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (2017) - The New Context Conference, San Francisco (2016) - The Scaling Bitcoin Workshop, Milan (2016) - University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2016) - MIT Media Lab Digital Currency Initiative Blockchain Seminar (2016) - MACS Project Meeting (2016) - MIT Security Seminar (2016) 1. **Blindly Signed Contracts: Anonymous On-Blockchain and Off-Blockchain Bitcoin Transactions** - BITCOIN'16 (2016) - Cornell Systems Lunch (2016) - MIT Security Seminar (2016) 1. **Eclipse Attacks on Bitcoin's Peer-to-Peer Network** - USENIX Security'15 (2015) - UMass, Amherst (2015 and 2016) - UPenn Seminar (2015) - Princeton Bitcoin Workshop (2015) - University of Maryland Syschat (2015) - MIT Security Seminar (2015) 1. **From the Consent of the Routed: Improving the Transparency of the RPKI** - SIGCOMM'14 (2014) - New England Networking and Systems Day (2014) - Boston University Security Seminar (2014) - Hubspot Tech Talks (2014) 1. **Restoring the Differential Security of MD6** - ECRYPT II Hash Workshop, Estonia (2011) - MIT Crypto Group (2011) 1. **Developing low-cost AVL and Web Mapping for Real Time Intermodal Customer Information Using a GPS Cell Phones and Google Maps** - Transportation Research Symposium Institute of Transportation Engineers Massachusetts Chapter (MAITE) (2007) - 23rd National Conference on Undergraduate Research (2007) ## Teaching Assistant (Boston University) - Probability in Computer Science (94 Students) | 2016 - Network Security (59 Students) | 2015 - Network Security (53 Students) | 2014 ## Academic Service ### Program Chair - Scaling Bitcoin: "Scaling the Edge" | 2017 ### Session Chair - NDSS'17: The Network and Distributed System Security Symposium | 2017 ### Program Committee - AFT'24: The sixth international conference on Advances in Financial Technologies | 2024 - CES Spring 23: Cryptoeconomic Systems | 2023 - AFT'23: The fifth international conference on Advances in Financial Technologies | 2023 - FC'23: Financial Cryptography and Data Security | 2023 - CES Fall 21: Cryptoeconomic Systems | 2021 - CBT 2021: 5th International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology | 2021 - DeFi 21: 1st Workshop on Decentralized Finance | 2021 - CVCBT 2021: Crypto Valley Conference on Blockchain Technology | 2021 - AFT 2021: 3rd Conference on Advances in Financial Technology | 2021 - FC'21: Financial Cryptography and Data Security | 2021 - FC'20: Financial Cryptography and Data Security | 2020 - S&P'20: IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (Oakland) | 2020 - CES'20: Cryptoeconomic Systems | 2020 - CVC'20: Crypto Valley Conference | 2020 - CVCBT'19: Crypto Valley Conference on Blockchain Technology | 2019 - Cryptocurrency Implementers Workshop | 2019 - FC'19: Financial Cryptography and Data Security | 2019 - IEEE S&B: Security and Privacy on the Blockchain Workshop | 2018 - BlockSEA: Workshop on Blockchain and Sharing Economy Applications | 2018 - Scaling Bitcoin: "Kaizen" | 2018 - BITCOIN 2018: 5th Workshop on Bitcoin and Blockchain Research | 2018 - IEEE S&B: Security and Privacy on the Blockchain Workshop | 2017 - BITCOIN 2017: 4th Workshop on Bitcoin and Blockchain Research | 2017 - BITCOIN 2016: 3rd Workshop on Bitcoin and Blockchain Research | 2016 - SAT 2015: Workshop on Surveillance and Technology | 2015 ### External Reviewer - CyberSec-2020: the Journal of Cybersecurity | 2020 - S&P'20: IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (Oakland) | 2020 - FC 2017: Financial Cryptography and Data Security 2017 | 2017 - CRYPTO 2016: 36th International Cryptology Conference | 2016 - IMC 2016: ACM Internet Measurement Conference | 2016 - NSDI 15: USENIX Symposium on Networked and Systems Design and Implementation | 2015 ## Selected Open Source Software Projects 1. **[OpenPubkey](https://github.com/openPubkey/openpubkey):** An implementation in go-lang of the OpenPubkey protocol. Currently a project under the Linux Foundation. This project is based on an implementation of OpenPubkey I wrote. I am currently the main contributor and chair of the technical steering committee. 1. **[Bitcoin Peer Forger (BPF)](https://github.com/EthanHeilman/bitcoin_peer_forger):** BPF is a network security research tool which allows an on-path party to connect to a Bitcoin node from a large number of spoofed IP addresses. 1. **[TumbleBit](https://github.com/BUSEC/TumbleBit):** Implements TumbleBit protocol as part of TumbleBit research publication. Used as a reference for development of nTumbleBit open source project. 1. **[RPKI Downgrade Detector](https://github.com/BUSEC/RPKI_Downgrade_Detector):** RPKI transparency tool released as part of RPKI and secure routing publications. Used at NIST for RPKI anomaly detection. 1. **[Flip It](https://github.com/EthanHeilman/flipIt):** Javascript implementation of a research game designed to model Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). While not developed for this purpose, a research team had people play my implementation of Flip It to explore the psychology of computer security. 1. **[Differential Pattern Search Program for MD6](https://github.com/EthanHeilman/MD6_diffp):** This software is used to reestablish the differential resistance of MD6. It uses a classification system of differential weight patterns that allows us to extend previous analysis to prove that MD6 is resistant to differential cryptanalysis. 1. **[Contributions to bitcoin-core](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin):** As shown below I have made [ten contributions](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/commits?author=EthanHeilman) to the Bitcoin-core open-source project ranging from security improvements to the peer-to-peer networking layer to bugfixes and unittests. These contributions have been included downstream in projects such as Zcash, Bitcoin-ABC, Litecoin and many others. ## Selected Open Source Software Contributions 1. **Bitcoin Improvement Proposals** [BIP-347 OP_CAT](https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/pull/1525) **(Proposed Standard: Draft)** 1. **Memguard** [Removes drop based finalizer](https://github.com/awnumar/memguard/pull/157) **(merged)** 1. **VtNetCore** [Fixes a bug in OSC-112 control sequences](https://github.com/darrenstarr/VtNetCore/pull/14) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [random: fixes read buffer resizing in RandAddSeedPerfmon](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/20082) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Limit the number of IPs we use from each DNS seeder](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/12626) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Add test-before-evict discipline to addrman](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/9037) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Feeler connections to increase online addrs in the tried table](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/8282) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Remove non-determinism which is breaking net_tests](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/8070) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Fix de-serialization bug where AddrMan is left corrupted](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/7696) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Adds unittests for CAddrMan and CAddrinfo, removes source of non-determinism](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/7212) **(merged)** 1. **Bitcoin-Core** [Creates unittests for addrman, makes addrman testable](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/6720) **(merged)** 1. **python-bitcoinlib** [Adding IPv6 support to addr messages with example code](https://github.com/petertodd/python-bitcoinlib/pull/50) **(merged)** ## Selected Trade Press and Media ### Media Quotes and Interviews - [North Korea, NFTs and a hit video game: inside a $500m cryptocurrency theft](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/apr/16/nft-blockchain-north-korea-hack-ronin-axie-infinity) (Carly Olson, The Guardian, 2022) - [Mt. Gox bitcoin debacle: huge heist or sloppy glitch](https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-bitcoin-mtgox-heist/mt-gox-bitcoin-debacle-huge-heist-or-sloppy-glitch-idUKBREA1R0YC20140228) (Jeremy Wagstaff, Reuters, 2014) ### Collider Script - [STARK @ Home: Bitcoin Covenants (podcast)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYju6t0m7uk) (Eli Ben-Sasson, Aviv Levy, Ethan Heilman, and Andrew Poelstra, 2025) - [For Bitcoin DeFi to Become a Reality, There's Now an Alternative to Op_Cat](https://thedefiant.io/news/research-and-opinion/for-bitcoin-defi-to-become-a-reality-there-s-now-an-alternative-to-op_cat) (Eli Ben-Sasson, The Defiant, 2024) - [ColliderScript: A $50M Bitcoin Covenant With No New Opcodes](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/colliderscript-a-50m-bitcoin-covenant-with-no-new-opcodes) (Andrew Poelstra, Bitcoin Magazine, 2024) - [Bitcoin Developers Working With StarkWare, Blockstream Claim Breakthrough on New Features](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/11/07/bitcoin-developers-working-with-starkware-blockstream-claim-breakthrough-on-covenants) (Bradley Keoun, Coindesk, 2024) - [ColliderScript: Advancing Bitcoin covenants without a fork](https://blockworks.co/news/colliderscript-bitcoin-covenants-no-fork) (Macauley Peterson, Blockworks, 2024) ### OpenPubkey - [Latest OpenPubkey Project Initiative Makes SSH More Secure](https://securityboulevard.com/2024/01/latest-openpubkey-project-initiative-makes-ssh-more-secure/) (Michael Vizard, Security Boulevard, 2024) - [Enhancing Security with OpenPubkey](https://vulnerx.com/openpubkey-protocol/) (Varnesh Gawde, vulnerx, 2023) - [New cryptographic protocol aims to bolster open-source software security](https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-cryptographic-protocol-aims-to-bolster-open-source-software-security/) (ZDNet, 2023) - [SD Times Open-Source Project of the Week: OpenPubkey](https://sdtimes.com/security/sd-times-open-source-project-of-the-week-openpubkey/) (Jenna Barron, SD Times, 2023) ### BIP-347: Proposed OP_CAT improvement to Bitcoin - [OP_CAT Proposal to Bring Smart Contracts to Bitcoin Finally Gets a 'BIP Number'](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/04/24/op-cat-proposal-to-bring-smart-contracts-to-bitcoin-finally-gets-a-bip-number/) This marks the first step towards reintroducing functionality removed from Bitcoin by creator Satoshi Nakamoto in 2010. (Daniel Kuhn, Coindesk, 2024) - [OP_CAT Proposal Assigned BIP-347, Aims to Enhance Bitcoin With Ethereum-Style Smart Contracts](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/04/24/op-cat-proposal-to-bring-smart-contracts-to-bitcoin-finally-gets-a-bip-number/) (SHINOBIJAN, Bitcoin Magazine, 2024) - [OP_CAT proposal for covenants on Bitcoin receives official BIP number](https://news.bitcoin.com/op_cat-proposal-assigned-bip-347-aims-to-enhance-bitcoin-with-ethereum-style-smart-contracts/) (Bitcoin.com, 2024) - [MIT BITCOIN Expo: Member of the Covenants Panel](https://web.mit.edu/webcast/bitcoin-expo-s24/) (MIT BITCOIN Expo, 2024) - [TO MEME, OR NOT TO MEME: THE CAT](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/to-meme-or-not-to-meme-the-cat/) (SHINOBIJAN, Bitcoin Magazine, 2024) - [Satoshi-Era Bitcoin Function 'OP_CAT' Dusted Off as Development Fervor Grows](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/02/14/satoshi-era-bitcoin-function-op-cat-dusted-off-as-development-fervor-grows/) Developers Ethan Heilman and Armin Sabouri view OP_CAT as a simple opcode that offers some of the general purpose functionality currently missing in Bitcoin (Jamie Crawley, Coindesk, 2024) - [What Is the OP_CAT Bitcoin Improvement Proposal?](https://unchainedcrypto.com/op_cat-bitcoin-improvement-proposal/) (Unchained, 2024) - [The History of OP_CAT and the Evolution of the Bitcoin Network](https://trustmachines.co/blog/the-history-of-op-cat-and-the-evolution-of-the-bitcoin-network) (Trust Machines, 2023) ### BastionZero - [BastionZero releases SplitCert for password-free authentication and access](https://www.csoonline.com/article/575467/bastionzero-releases-splitcert-for-password-free-authentication-and-access.html) (Michael Hill, CSO Online, 2023) - [BastionZero Recognized for Innovative Cryptographic Approach to Zero-Trust Infrastructure Access](https://www.yahoo.com/now/bastionzero-selected-finalist-rsa-conference-130300965.html) (yahoo, 2022) - [BastionZero launches zero-trust cloud platform for engineering teams](https://venturebeat.com/cloud/bastionzero-launches-zero-trust-cloud-platform-for-engineering-teams/) (Tim Keary, Venture Beat, 2022) - [Security startups to watch for 2022](https://www.csoonline.com/article/3648656/security-startups-to-watch-for-2022.html) (CSO staff, www.csoonline.com, 2022) - [Meet the 10 Finalists in the RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox](https://www.darkreading.com/emerging-tech/meet-the-10-finalists-in-the-rsa-conference-innovation-sandbox) (Karen Spiegelman, DarkReading, 2022) ### The Arwen Trading Protocols - [Their goal: make cryptocurrency less scary](https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2019/02/10/their-goal-make-cryptocurrency-less-scary/GrxcQdG0bJ88u3xYdxO6jN/story.html) (Scott Kirsner, Boston Globe) - [Layer 2 blockchain protocol Arwen raises $3.3M to streamline trade settlement with atomic swaps](https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/54977/layer-2-blockchain-protocol-arwen-raises-3-3m-to-streamline-trade-settlement-with-atomic-swaps) (Celia Wan, The Block) - [This Startup Is Fixing The Biggest Security Hole In Bitcoin Exchanges](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/2019/01/28/this-startup-is-fixing-the-biggest-security-hole-in-bitcoin-exchanges/#63ce97225812) (Kyle Torpey, Forbes) - [Crypto Startup Wants You to Trade on Exchanges Without Trusting Them](https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-startup-wants-you-to-trade-on-exchanges-without-trusting-them) (Nikhilesh De, CoinDesk) - [Arwen Enables Self-Custody for Traders of Centralized Crypto Exchanges](https://news.bitcoin.com/arwen-enables-self-custody-for-traders-of-centralized-crypto-exchanges/) (Avi Mizrahi, Bitcoin.com) ### Low-Resource Eclipse Attacks on Ethereum's Peer-to-Peer Network - [Ethereum Was Significantly Less Secure Than Bitcoin Until Last Month](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/evmwpp/ethereum-was-significantly-less-secure-than-bitcoin-until-last-month) (Daniel Oberhaus, Motherboard) - [Researchers Explore Eclipse Attacks on the Ethereum Blockchain](https://www.nasdaq.com/article/researchers-explore-eclipse-attacks-on-the-ethereum-blockchain-cm928765) (Amy Castor, Bitcoin Magazine/Nasdaq) - [Ethereum fixes serious "eclipse" flaw that could be exploited by any kid](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/03/ethereum-fixes-serious-eclipse-flaw-that-could-be-exploited-by-any-kid/) (Dan Goodin, Ars Technica) ### Cryptanalysis of Curl-P and Other Attacks on the IOTA Cryptocurrency - [MIT And BU Researchers Uncover Critical Security Flaw In $2B Cryptocurrency IOTA](https://www.forbes.com/sites/amycastor/2017/09/07/mit-and-bu-researchers-uncover-critical-security-flaw-in-2b-cryptocurrency-iota/#1624d0967570) (Amy Castor, Forbes) - [Cryptographers Urge People to Abandon IOTA After Leaked Emails](https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/cryptographers-urge-users-and-researchers-to-abandon-iota-after-leaked-emails) (Morgen Peck, IEEE Spectrum) - [FUD, inglorious FUD](https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2018/04/25/1524628801000/FUD--inglorious-FUD/) (Jemima Kelly, Alphaville - Financial Times) - [A $5 Billion Cryptocurrency Has Enraged Cryptographers](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ywq44k/a-5-billion-cryptocurrency-iota-has-enraged-cryptographers-leaked-emails) (Daniel Oberhaus, Jordan Pearson, Motherboard) - [IOTA: The $3.7 Billion Crypto Developers Love to Hate](https://www.coindesk.com/iota-2-7-billion-cryptocurrency-developers-love-hate) (Alyssa Hertig, CoinDesk) - [Blockchain bug hunters feature prominently at this year's Pwnie Awards](https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/08/08/blockchain-security-pwnie-awards/) (David Canellis, TheNextWeb) ### Atomically trading with roger: Gambling on the success of a hardfork - [Gambling on a Hard Fork: Will Roger Ver Take up a High-Stakes Bitcoin Wager?](https://www.coindesk.com/gambling-hard-fork-will-roger-ver-take-high-stakes-bitcoin-wager) (Amy Castor, CoinDesk) ### An Empirical Analysis of Traceability in the Monero Blockchain - [The Dark Web's Favorite Currency is Less Untraceable Than it Seems](https://www.wired.com/story/monero-privacy/) (Andy Greenberg, Wired Magazine) - [Cryptojacker's choice coin Monero might be trackable](https://www.slashgear.com/cryptojackers-choice-coin-monero-might-be-trackable-28524977/) (Chris Burns, SlashGear) - [Attacks that unmask anonymous blockchain transactions can be used against everyone who ever relied on the defective technique](https://boingboing.net/2018/03/27/perfect-forward-secrecy.html) (Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing) ### TumbleBit: An Untrusted Bitcoin-Compatible Anonymous Payment Hub - [With TumbleBit, Bitcoin Mixing May Have Found Its Winning Answer](http://www.nasdaq.com/article/with-tumblebit-bitcoin-mixing-may-have-found-its-winning-answer-cm698197) (Bitcoin Magazine/Nasdaq) - [Tumblebit - zdecentralizowany mikser bitcoinów](http://bitcoin.pl/wiadomosci/bezpieczenstwo/1302-tubmlebit-zdecentralizowany-anonimizer-bitcoinow) (bitcoin.pl) - [Bitcoin Price Prediction for 2017: 6 Major Events to Impact Bitcoin Value](https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-prediction-for-2017-6-major-events-to-impact-bitcoin-value) (CoinTelegraph) - [Blockchain Surveillance is Accelerating Privacy Tool Development](https://news.bitcoin.com/blockchain-surveillance-privacy-tool/) (Bitcoin.com) - [Investment Bank Praises Bitcoin Core Scaling Roadmap in Price Report](http://coinjournal.net/investment-bank-praises-bitcoin-core-scaling-roadmap-price-report/) (CoinJournal) - [Ensuring Bitcoin Fungibility in 2017](http://www.coindesk.com/ensuring-bitcoin-fungibility-in-2017-and-beyond/) (CoinDesk) - [E021: TumbleBit, Drones, and Peaceful Protests](https://soundcloud.com/bitcoinandmarkets/e021-tumblebit-drones-and-peaceful-protests-8312016) (podcast - Bitcoin and Markets) - [TumbleBit improves Bitcoin privacy and scalability](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9w-mNKyXnFk) (video - KNC news) - [Meet Tumblebit: The Unlinkable Payment Hub](http://newsbitcoin.info/meet-tumblebit-the-unlinkable-payment-hub/) (Bitcoin News) - [How TumbleBit Builds On CoinSwap To Improve Bitcoin Privacy And Fungibility](https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/how-tumblebit-builds-on-coinswap-to-improve-bitcoin-privacy-and-fungibility/) (Cryptocoins News) - [TumbleBit Part 1: How Does This Bitcoin Privacy Proposal Compare to Monero and Zcash?](http://coinjournal.net/tumblebit-part-1-bitcoin-privacy-proposal-compare-monero-zcash/) (CoinJournal) - [TumbleBit Part 2: How Does This Bitcoin Privacy Improvement Compare with CoinJoin and CoinShuffle?](http://coinjournal.net/bitcoin-privacy-improvement-compare-coinjoin-coinshuffle/) (CoinJournal) - [TumbleBit Part 3: Potential Privacy Improvements for Bitcoin's Lightning Network](http://coinjournal.net/tumblebit-part-3-potential-privacy-improvements-bitcoins-lightning-network/) (CoinJournal) ### Eclipse Attacks on Bitcoin's Peer-to-Peer Network - [The Top 10 Cryptocurrency Research Papers of 2015](http://www.coindesk.com/10-must-read-cryptocurrency-research-papers-from-2015/) (CoinDesk) ### (Blog Entry) Is PlayStation 4 Network Traffic Especially Difficult to Decrypt? - [PlayStation Network Encryption? It's Not That Good](http://www.forbes.com/sites/ygrauer/2015/11/24/playstation-network-encryption/) (Forbes) ### (Project) Potlucky Bitcoin Payment System - [MIT Bitcoin Project Names Final Winners of $15k App Contest](http://www.coindesk.com/final-winners-mit-app-contest/) (CoinDesk) ## Selected Blog Posts 1. [The Terminal Escape Sequences Ocean is Deep and Dark: Debugging a Virtual Terminal](https://www.ethanheilman.com/x/28/index.html) 1. [The Design of Arwen's Ethereum Escrow Smart Contract](https://medium.com/arwensecure/the-design-of-arwens-ethereum-escrow-smart-contract-3c56746ea15d) 1. [Definitions of COLLECTION within the Intelligence Community and the Law.](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/99480839105/definitions-of-collection-within-the-intelligence) 1. [A Brief History of NSA Backdoors.](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/70646748808/a-brief-history-of-nsa-backdoors) 1. [Are IP Address Allocations Property?](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/104839763080/are-ip-address-allocations-property) 1. [On the NSA's Thinking Behind the Decision to Backdoor a US Cryptographic Standard.](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/102484947860/on-the-nsas-thinking-behind-the-decision-to) 1. [A Review of William Liscum Borden's 'There Will Be No Time: The Revolution in Strategy'.](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/29405762446/there-will-be-no-time-a-review) 1. [Is PlayStation 4 Network Traffic Especially Difficult to Decrypt?](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/133488739430/is-playstation-4-network-traffic-especially) 1. [A Brief Examination of Hacking Team's Crypter: core-packer.](http://ethanheilman.tumblr.com/post/128708937890/a-brief-examination-of-hacking-teams-crypter) ## Students Mentored ### High School Students - Shashvat Srivastava (Intern 2017) Monero privacy research. Semifinalist in 2017 Siemens Competition. Started as an undergraduate at MIT in 2019. - Henry Heffan (Intern 2017) Monero privacy research. Semifinalist in 2017 Siemens Competition. - Yuval Marcus (Intern Summer 2016) Ethereum and blockchain networking research. - Hristo Stoyanov (Intern Summer 2014) RPKI vulnerability mitigations. Finalist in the International Science and Engineering Fair 2015. Started as an undergraduate at Stanford in Fall 2015. ### Undergraduate Students - Danny Cooper (B.A. Boston University 2014) RPKI research. Awarded IETF/IRTF Applied Networking Research Prize. (2014) Boston University Computer Science Undergraduate Research Award (2014) Started as a security researcher at Akamai. - AJ Trainor (B.A. Boston University 2016) Research on low multiplicative complexity hash function design (Spring-Summer 2016). Started as a software engineer at Cambridge Blockchain. - Alison Kendler (B.A. Boston University 2016) Research on Bitcoin networking attacks and countermeasures (Summer 2015). Finalist for 2016 CRA undergraduate research award. Started as a security researcher at MITRE. - Ann Ming Samborski (B.A. Boston University 2017) Research on Bitcoin micropayment networks (Spring 2016). Interned on a security team at Cisco (Summer 2016). - Leen AlShenibr (B.A. Boston University 2017) Research on Bitcoin privacy improvements (Spring-Summer 2016). Presented research at Scaling Bitcoin Milan (2016). - Daniel Gould (B.A. Boston University 2019) Research on TumbleBit, 2017. - Ezequiel Gomez (B.A. BU expected 2019) Research on TumbleBit, 2017.