Monero усиливает защиту от шпионских нод с обновлением Flourine Fermi Translation: Monero strengthens protection against spy nodes with the Flourine Fermi update.

The developers of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero have enhanced the measures against so-called spy nodes in their latest client version (v0.18.4.3), dubbed Flourine Fermi.

“This is a highly recommended update,” underscored project representatives.

In the Monero community, the term “spy nodes” refers to malicious nodes, groups, or botnets that can link IP addresses to transactions within the network.

The update introduces an improved peer selection algorithm that avoids connections to large subnets frequently employed by spy nodes. Users will now connect to more secure nodes.

Additional enhancements have been made to boost the stability and reliability of the network.

Given that malicious nodes threaten user privacy and contradict the project’s goals, the Monero community is actively working on solutions: developing security measures, encouraging the operation of personal nodes, and refining the software.

At the end of 2024, researchers suggested that node operators block suspicious IP addresses and avoid connecting to them. However, this measure is difficult to consider effective, as attackers can easily create new «spy» addresses.

Another tool being promoted by the community is Dandelion++, which aims to complicate the linking of IP addresses to transactions.

The privacy issues surrounding Monero gained significant attention following a video leak from Chainalysis in 2024. In the footage, the analytics company demonstrated how it launched multiple nodes in different regions and utilized several internet service providers to collect IP addresses and transaction timestamps.

It’s worth noting that in September, the privacy-centric cryptocurrency’s blockchain underwent the largest reorganization in 12 years.

The mining pool Quibic released a hidden chain that turned out to be longer than the main one. The network nodes automatically accepted it as valid, reversing previous blocks.