Aron Sharma and Damon Shahrivar

Proof-of-Work in a modern day observation

Abstract

Proof-Of-Work Protocol is a conceptual idea, meant to prevent DoS attacks, brute force and spam-mail attacks. The main idea is that when a server receives a request from a client, it does not accept or process it directly. Instead it sends back a small puzzle to the client that sent the request. The puzzle must be solved by the client before being given access to the server. The point of the protocol is that it will cost the client more cpu time to solve the puzzle than what it takes for the server to find a solution to the client's request. The idea is that this will help against the attacks mentioned above. This project will study the Proof-Of-Work Protocol and a few of its implementations. In addition to this, the project also includes a study of the difference in performance between different implementations on different platforms, and a reflection of the Protocol that deals with usability and the protocol's place on the modern day web.