Developer contradicts message about possible attack on Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Core developer Eric Lombrozo has denied that there are any signs of an attack on the project. He did this in response to a post on bitcoin.org warning of a government attack on the Bitcoin Core.

The message states that bitcoin.org has the suspicion that an attack is taking place on the upcoming release of the Bitcoin Core and that it does not have the resources to defend itself against it. Therefore, the site warns the Bitcoin community and mainly Chinese users to be vigilant when downloading files from the site. There is a possibility that malware is present in the release, which could allow users to lose bitcoins and use their systems to carry out attacks on the bitcoin network.

In response to the warning, Bitcoin Core developer Eric Lombrozo told The Register that the message was posted on the site without consultation, which has nothing to do with the Bitcoin Core itself. The reason behind the posting of the warning is still unknown. According to Lombrozo, “there is no indication that a government is targeting the Bitcoin Core.” If that were the case, then ‘the team would have noticed by now’. Lombrozo deems it possible that sites offering the releases as downloads may be the target of attacks, but calls for not “unnecessarily spreading paranoia around the Bitcoin Core.”

Users can verify downloads from bitcoin.org by verifying that the hashes of the Bitcoin Core binaries are signed with a particular key, the warning on the site notes. It is wise to check whether this is indeed the case and also to investigate whether the key has the correct fingerprint.