How Can Blockchain Be Used to Aid Cybersecurity?

With the rapid advancement of internet-based technologies, cybersecurity is a constant cloud looming on the horizon. As the technology evolves, so too, do the cybercriminals. Their constant efforts to steal valuable data and disrupt business through DDoS attacks are increasingly sophisticated.

Holding companies hostage and monetizing data through ransomware techniques is sadly par for the course. In fact, it’s estimated that cybersecurity alone costs the global economy some $450 billion a year. With IT professionals scrambling to stay one step ahead of the hackers, how can blockchain be used to aid cybersecurity?

No Single Point of Failure

The decentralized nature of the blockchain means that there is no single point of failure, nor one central database waiting to be hacked. Information is stored over several databases, and each block is linked to the next in the chain, making no “hackable” entrance. This provides infinitely greater security than our current, centralized structures.

Removing Human Error

The weakest link in our current system is simple logins that are vulnerable to being cracked. Blockchain can remove human error in cybersecurity, as businesses can authenticate devices without the need for a password system. Each device is provided with a specific SSL certificate, rather than a password. Human intervention becoming a potential hacker vector is consequently avoided.

Bitcoin advocate, adjunct professor at NYU Law School and practicing attorney, Andrew Hinkes, explains, “Using a public blockchain with proof of work consensus can remove the foibles of human mistake or manipulation.”

Detecting Tampering in Real Time

The blockchain can uncover and reject suspicious behavior in the system in real time. Say, for example, that a hacker tried to interfere with the information in a block. The entire system would be alerted and examine all data blocks to locate the one that stood out from the rest. It would then be recognized as false and excluded from the system.

Improving IoT Security

With the rise in IoT devices, come inherent security risks. We’ve already seen problems occur when trying to disable compromised devices that become part of botnets. According to Kevin Curran, IEEE senior member and professor of cybersecurity at Ulster University, the blockchain can put an end to that:

“The blockchain, with its solid cryptographic foundation offering a decentralized solution can aid against data tampering, thus offering greater assurances for the legitimacy of the data.” This would mean that potentially billions of IoT devices could connect and communicate in a secure ecosystem.

Traceability

All transactions on the blockchain are highly traceable, using a timestamp and digital signature. Companies can easily go back to the root of each and every transaction to a given date and locate the corresponding party. Since all transactions are cryptographically associated to a user, the perpetrator can be easily found.

Says Hinkes, “Blockchains create an audit trail of all activity by its participants, which simplifies access control and monitoring.” This offers companies a level of security and transparency on every iteration.

The Takeaway

Currently, the impending threat of DDoS attacks comes from our existing Domain Name System. Blockchain technology would disrupt this completely by decentralizing the DNS and distributing the content to a greater number of nodes. This would make it virtually impossible for cybercriminals to hack and create a secure environment to host the world’s data.