News roundup: blockchain security
We’ve taken a look at what’s been going on in the blockchain security world and come up with the things that you should know.
Startup ALTR unveils blockchain-based platform for data security
The Texas-based startup ALTR recently emerged from stealth mode to unveil its blockchain-based software for “ultra-secure data access and storage”. ALTR CEO David Sikora said in an announcement on 6 June: “Network-focused security isn’t enough because it never really puts a dent in the sheer number of vulnerabilities. Rather than patching the existing attack surface, ALTR has found a way to significantly reduce it.” Using a technology called ALTRchain, the company said, its platform includes ALTR Monitor for data-access intelligence, ALTR Govern for data-access governance and ALTR Protect for data-at-rest protection.
Mastercard explores blockchain systems for security
Mastercard recently filed an application with the US Patent & Trademark Office for a method for verifying payment cards using blockchain. According to the application summary, the system is designed for “the conveyance and receipt of payment credentials to and at a point of sale device through the use of a third party data source. The use of a third party data source enables an individual to transact safely without concern for their payment credentials being skimmed from their payment instrument, or without having to even carry a payment instrument entirely”. Speaking at the Money 20/20 Europe conference recently, Mastercard vice chairman Ann Cairns noted that her company has “something like over 60 patents in blockchain and we’ve actually built our own blockchain from the ground up that can actually run our whole network… [I]t’s a great new technology, and there are things about it that would give a certain level of safety and security, even if you lost pieces of the infrastructure… It’s a very, very exciting technology”.
Cognida platform and network to provide security policies on a blockchain
Windmill Enterprise of Austin, Texas, launched the blockchain-based Cognida Platform and Cognida Network on 12 June. According to the company — which is contributing the technology to the open-source, non-profit Cognida Foundation — he platform and network “employ a blockchain agnostic approach in establishing enterprise identities, permissions and security policies on a blockchain, and enforce security policies wherever enterprise digital assets connect to a network”. In a news announcement, Windmill Enterprise co-founder Michael Hathaway said: “With the launch of the Cognida Network as well as the Cognida Foundation, we will equip companies with the tools to secure digital assets and shared information in the enterprise and in the cloud. This establishes a blockchain secured service layer that runs on top of the internet, enabling trusted service relationships to be established, and putting the enterprise in control of who has access to what.”
Bank of America wins US patent for managing access and security on distributed networks
Bank of America recently patented a system for managing security on a blockchain network or similar “distributed validating network”. As described by the US Patent & Trademark Office, the system is designed to provide self-monitoring security and access to designated blocks on a network using tags and security tokens. It could also determine when a block or blocks had been compromised if a non-designated user presented a security token or if an incorrect token were provided.
Researchers: Use quantum key distribution for quantum-safe blockchain
A research team led by Evgeniy Kiktenko of the Russian Quantum Centre recently published a study showing how to create a quantum computer-safe blockchain platform using quantum key distribution. Writing in the journal Quantum Science and Technology, the researchers “propose a possible solution to the quantum era blockchain challenge and report an experimental realisation of a quantum-safe blockchain platform that utilises quantum key distribution across an urban fibre network for information-theoretically secure authentication”. Speaking with the ResearchSEA news portal, co-lead author Alexander Lvovsky said: “A crucial advantage of our blockchain protocol is its ability to maintain transparency and integrity of transactions against attacks with quantum algorithms. Our results therefore open up possibilities for realising scalable quantum-safe blockchain platforms. If realised, such a blockchain platform can limit economic and social risks from imminent breakthroughs in quantum computation technology.”
