“Patsy attacks”, a possible IRL exploit against blockchain tech

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“Patsy attacks”, a possible IRL exploit against blockchain tech

Hypothetically: would it be possible for malicious actors to enter data into the ethereum blockchain (or another blockchain) with the intention inciting hostile action against the blockchain by government actors?

Let’s say that a bad actor input data into the blockchain that, when unzipped by a highly popular and available compression software, was converted into something illegal (use your imagination)

In this scenario, the illegal data would be publicly visible on the blockchain and it would be impossible to remove without destroying the blockchain itself, if such a thing is possible. The unzipping software could not be made illegal, and there would be no way to “black out” or even obscure the compressed data on the blockchain. This would incite law enforcement and regulators to attack the blockchain, like some kind of maliciously incited autoimmune disease.

I thought that the term “patsy attack” was an interesting label (if there isn’t one already) because it basically allows hostile entities to weaponize the police as a weapon.

So is such a thing possible? If not on the ethereum network, is this something that other blockchains might need to fear in the future?

submitted by /u/xPangloss
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