Blockmarket Desktop 1.1.4 and Blockchain Authentication Tools Released
Last week we mentioned our ongoing work to improve the authentication mechanisms that Blockmarket Desktop uses to read and write off-chain data. Today, we’re proud to release Blockmarket Desktop 1.1.4, featuring an innovative authentication library we’ve developed for securing off-chain data that uses blockchain signatures to provide true ‘blockchain authentication’.
DOWNLOADS
Blockmarket 1.1.4: Mac | Windows
Note: For security reasons all users are required to upgrade to Blockmarket Desktop 1.1.4 in order to create and edit Syscoin Identities.
Off-chain Authentication
Certain types of data do not belong on a blockchain. However, if you store data outside of the blockchain, how do you secure it without requiring a username/password layer to act as the security mechanism? This was the challenge we faced when the implementation strategy of Syscoin Identities evolved, and the bulk of its data moved off-chain.
You can see our solution above; a completely new standalone library called syscoin-auth, released today. Syscoin-auth employs an almost identical implementation to how the blockchain itself secures data. The client attempting to write the first data signs the payload using their private key; this establishes that they control the piece of data which they are trying to modify. Next, the raw payload, signature and public address are sent to the server. The server uses a local independent connection to a Syscoin full node to validate the signature based on the address submitted. If the signature is valid then the write operation is executed, if not then the write is prevented and an error is returned to the client.
This implementation is a major milestone on our forward-looking roadmap as it enables many additional features and improvements related to off-chain data. It also greatly increases the security of our off-chain data, closing a key vulnerability we have been keen to resolve. Using this construct we will be able to secure a host of different types of data encompassing offers, certificates, identities, and more. By open-sourcing this library other cryptocurrency development teams and companies can leverage this same mechanism for securing their off-chain data.
Payment Processors
The Blockmarket Desktop 1.2.0 release will feature payment processors and the ability to move from crypto (and possibly fiat) to Syscoin entirely within the Blockmarket experience. Development is progressing well and the release is planned for the first half of January 2018.
Releasing in January will ensure the value of this release isn’t lost on the community. Many individuals and businesses close down for the holidays at the end of December. This timing will maximize the impact of marketing and cross promotional activities being coordinated with payment processors themselves. Below is an updated roadmap with these changes. We will be posting a roadmap in the coming weeks with development and business milestones for the first two quarters of 2018.
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