Monero Releases 'Fluorine Fermi' Upgrade to Enhance Protection Against Spy Nodes

The privacy-focused Monero blockchain has released a major update, CLI v 0.18.4.3 "Fluorine Fermi," to enhance protection against spy nodes. In the Monero community, the term "spy node" refers to malicious nodes, groups of nodes, or botnets that can link IP addresses to transaction information, effectively undermining the blockchain's privacy guarantees. The "Fermi" update addresses this issue by implementing an improved node selection algorithm that reduces the likelihood of users connecting to multiple nodes within the same IP subnet, a common tactic used by spy nodes. This prevents users from connecting to large clusters of suspicious IP addresses, directing them to more secure nodes. The "Fermi" update also changes how and to whom emails are sent, making it extremely difficult for spies to track their delivery. This helps Monero's email service avoid these suspicious senders. (Cryptopolitan)