Why Blockchain is Perfect for Securing Our Expanding Online World
It seems that every industry is tapping into the power of blockchain lately — from finance to healthcare. One of the greatest uses of blockchain is securing our expanding online world.
When asked what blockchain can do for cyber security, PolySwarm CEO, Steve Bassi, told Techbullion in a recent interview: “Simply, redefine the economics of cyber security in a few areas. We’re obviously working on anti-malware but I’ve seen some other interesting ideas ranging from giving people back control of their data to incentivizing better audits of smart contracts.”
Now, let’s dive into the specifics for how blockchain will be critical to keeping our digital world safe.
No Single Point of Failure
Blockchain technology is inherently decentralized. Right now, antivirus companies are centralized, with one small team fielding all threats, malware and the like — making them vulnerable, as well as the people who use those antivirus and security products. Not to mention, that users can only run the products from one vendor at a time, meaning that vendor needs to catch every vulnerability — which doesn’t happen.
Without a single point of failure, however, cyber security products that are built on the blockchain are much more resistant to attack. Thanks to this technology, we can now enlist a worldwide network of security experts, rather than relying on a small group of people who, while knowledgeable and highly skilled, only have so much time in the day. As such, they can only focus on a subset of the total problems.
Our CTO, Paul Makowski, talked about this in another recent post. Check it it out below:
Auditable
Excluding privacy chains, all data pushed to chains are immutable and public. This brings significantly enhanced transparency and reliability to previously less-trustworthy record keeping systems. For example, every AV company has separate “signatures” for malware. Those signatures are not publicly annotated with what they detect, meaning there’s no way for anyone to verify them or what the AV software can or cannot detect.
Having the signatures and the associated malware publicly available allows for other groups to audit them, which makes the process more secure and reliable.
Cryptographically Secure
The underpinnings of blockchains are based on time-tested cryptographic primitives that allow for a high level of trust in the overall system. For example, a digital signature is created by computing a signature over the transaction. If the transaction changes, it will result in a different signature. If the digital signature attached to the content does not match the digital signature that is computed for the content, then the content is rejected as invalid.
Not to mention, for consumers buying products with digital currency, the blockchain and advanced mathematics required to confirm transactions, ensures the security of their money.
There’s Lower Barrier to Entry for International Use
A number of developing countries have tapped into cryptocurrency for a few reasons, one of which is its availability to citizens with one simple device: a mobile phone. (Bloconomi has a great blog post about this). Not only is money more available, but the blockchain takes power out of the hands of centralized financial institutions. This is especially valuable in developing countries, where government corruption is common.
With blockchain, citizens can keep their money more secure. Transferring cryptocurrency from one person to another makes it possible to avoid government control, theft between citizens themselves, and illegal seizing of cash.
More importantly, the distributed nature of the blockchain allows experts from all over the world, regardless of region, to participate in the PolySwarm ecosystem. This lowers the barrier of entry for international experts to participate in the threat intelligence marketplace, and resulting in greater security for the end user.
Easier Sharing of Critical Information
Having truth data stored on a public blockchain enables everyone to use that data to draw their own conclusions. Note that this is separate from auditing, because it allows multiple security companies to develop tools that work from the same source data. This is one of the reasons we believe PolySwarm is needed in the cyber security industry. With access to a public ledger of identified malware, all security experts can participate, allowing for more rapid threat detection, thwarting threats before they result in a breach.
