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how does blockchain improve security

by Prof. Emmet Kiehn DVM Published 1 year ago Updated 1 year ago
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Blockchain technology produces a structure of data with inherent security qualities. It's based on principles of cryptography, decentralization and consensus, which ensure trust in transactions.

Why is blockchain a trusted and secured approach?

Why the Blockchain is So Secure. A blockchain has several built-in security features that make it attractive for purposes like land records, cryptocurrency transactions, etc. The security of personal data is a human right. A blockchain could be one of the methods of ensuring this. Simply defined, a blockchain is, “A decentralised database ...

Why is blockchain considered safe?

To eliminate the risk of altering and theft of data Blockchain follows the Decentralize working model where no single body has the right to change or remove transaction information in the chain blocks. Furthermore, its Peer to Peer blockchain network makes the transaction more secure and safe than others.

Why you should care about blockchain?

Blockchain in healthcare can be used to :

  • Maintain secure medical records of patients
  • Will create a robust network of communication between all healthcare beneficiaries
  • Reliable & authentic records keeping of pharma companies supply chain
  • Precise and accurate patient information will be accessible to doctors to help them serve patients better.

More items...

Why is it hard to hack blockchain?

Part of why blockchain cannot be hacked is due to the fact that blockchains are distributed. Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) does not exist in any centralized location that can serve as a single attack vector. There’s not a big server warehouse somewhere that can be infiltrated or compromised.

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Blockchain as a framework to improve data security and integrity

Defining integrity, in the context of information, can be tricky. A simple web search on the matter will yield multiple results, but for clarity’s sake we’ll pick one of the briefest: Integrity refers to the reliability and trustworthiness of the data. A simple explanation, for sure, but in the real world, the issue is slightly more complicated.

A brief history of blockchain

The answer to what blockchain is lies in its very name. It is a chain of blocks that stores transactional data. All existing nodes in the network validate the transaction, which becomes immutable, i.e., once validated, the transaction cannot be altered.

How Soon Will Blockchain Improve Security?

After reading about these examples, you may wonder how soon it’ll be before blockchain security makes a major impact on protecting content in the digital realm and safeguarding against hacks or other attacks . That’s anyone’s guess, because the biggest differences will likely come from widespread usage. However, the diversity of the use cases discussed here and elsewhere gives hope for the future.

How many people will be affected by data breaches in 2020?

Research shows that data breaches affected more than 155 million individuals in 2020 and that the year had 1,001 such reported incidents. A different 2020 study revealed manufacturing as one of the at-risk industries for data breaches associated with financial gain.

Why do people use passwords?

People use passwords to access workplace interfaces, carry out personal banking, shop for necessities at e-commerce sites, and more. However, some cybersecurity experts argue that blockchain security offers a better way.

Why is blockchain a service?

The reason why is because it is a basic tenet of both HIPAA and AICPA guidance to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. Having one entity in a distributed system with the ability to change all three by having the power to alter data violates that.

What is the issue with blockchain?

The issue with Blockchain is that they have the potential to not only affect the integrity of data for one entity, but also for all Blockchain participants. Organizations need to realize that this will affect them. Participants in both public and private Blockchains need to have a strong vulnerability management program ...

What is the purpose of shared identity management?

To ensure total system integrity requires the adoption of shared identity management processes that meet industry standards, and are auditable by all parties. The continuation of existing processes means that there are potentially components that cannot be audited.

Is blockchain a new technology?

However, in the initial euphoria about Blockchain, there are notes of caution. While this is a new technology, this does not change the basic tenets of information security. We have to be very careful to reconcile implementations with the requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule, HITECH Act, and if used for financial or Revenue Cycle transactions, the guidance issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Auditors use the AICPA guidance to audit systems of record, and their focus is much like the HIPAA Security Rule, which is on providing provable, auditable, reasonable, and appropriate safeguards to protect transactional and data integrity. While the HIPAA Security Rule focuses on patient data and electronic medical records, the AICPA guidance focuses on general ledgers and accounting. With Blockchain, these two worlds converge.

Is blockchain disruptive?

Blockchain has the potential to be one of the most disruptive technologies since the invention of the Internet. There is an entire class of problems with distributed reconciliation of data entries that this can potentially solve. The creators of Blockchain saw past its initial usage for cryptocurrency implementation toward a future ...

Can blockchain be used to validate a system?

Blockchain cannot be used as a step to validate system ...

Can you store PHI on a blockchain?

What is possible, however, is to store either direct links to systems storing PHI that require authentication that also audit access, or the cryptographic checksums of PHI that probably cannot be reverse-engineered. If you do store PHI on your Blockchain, you then have to assume that anyone who has access to it has access to all of the information in it, and if there is a breach of that information, all of that information will be considered breached as there is no way to prove otherwise. Combining the use of systems with authentication and auditing with cryptographic checksums to verify and validate data improves security and provides a distributed method of proving it. Storing data itself on a Blockchain weakens it by removing audit controls.

How does blockchain help protect data?

When configured properly and suitably distributed, a blockchain can safeguard data of all kinds and for all industries. If cybersecurity professionals can be thought of as the guardians of the world’s data, it follows that they should be drawn to distributed ledger technology. Blockchain is not a silver bullet, but it’s a highly effective way of storing, sending, and encrypting critical data and monitoring, in real time, who accesses it and how. And that’s pretty powerful.

What is blockchain technology?

Blockchain technology enables enterprises and individuals to agree on the true state of a data set without reliance on a costly intermediary. This same characteristic makes blockchain a perfect fit for certain cybersecurity applications. To understand how, precisely, calls for examining the basics of blockchain technology and considering how it can be used to secure the cyberspace.

What are the facts about blockchain?

Based on this analysis, the following facts become clear: 1 Blockchain technology does not provide confidentiality by default. It’s open by nature. Additional tools are needed to encrypt data that is stored on a blockchain to effectively anonymize it. 2 Authenticity is not available. 3 Availability: Blockchains use multiple nodes to distribute data which are difficult to block or DDoS, thwarting attempts to access the data. If cybercriminals manage to delete, hack, or encrypt the data of one node they will still fail as there are too many available nodes to remove all instances of it. 4 Integrity: Cryptography plays a major role in ensuring data integrity. When the data is stored, it is digitally signed. For data in transit, this means hashing and digitally signing it. For data in use, it means digitally signing it, comparing it with the hash of original data, and reaching consensus. 5 Non-repudiation: Data is assured by the block ledger. Once signed in a transaction, it will remain forever. Because blockchain transactions are also signed by the user’s secret key, non-repudiation is supported.

Why do blockchains have multiple nodes?

Availability: Blockchains use multiple nodes to distribute data which are difficult to block or DDoS, thwarting attempts to access the data. If cybercriminals manage to delete, hack, or encrypt the data of one node they will still fail as there are too many available nodes to remove all instances of it.

What is the role of cryptography in data integrity?

Integrity: Cryptography plays a major role in ensuring data integrity . When the data is stored, it is digitally signed. For data in transit, this means hashing and digitally signing it. For data in use, it means digitally signing it, comparing it with the hash of original data, and reaching consensus.

Can you dispute who accessed your blockchain?

With every action that takes place on a blockchain being digitally signed and timestamped, there can be no disputing who’s accessed or moved it and when. Every transaction on the chain can be associated with the cryptographic signature of a particular user. Using decentralized storage technology such as IPFS, it’s possible to encrypt and store information of any kind on the blockchain. As a result, businesses can store documents and other digital items on a distributed ledger in the knowledge that it will be always accessible, and that it will be virtually impossible to destroy.

Does blockchain provide confidentiality?

Blockchain technology does not provide confidentiality by default. It’s open by nature. Additional tools are needed to encrypt data that is stored on a blockchain to effectively anonymize it.

How does blockchain work?

When a new transaction takes place, it appears in the form of a block creating copies on each network computer. Every block contains valuable data and a “hash” — its unique set of characters. Chaining to another block, it shares its hash, and this is what makes blockchain so secure and immutable.

How does blockchain technology improve the security of data rooms?

While the traditional authorized system is highly vulnerable to hacker attacks and corruption attempts, blockchain technology guarantees to transfer all the digital assets in a non-modified and permanent way and significantly improve online data room security.

What is blockchain technology?

Simply put, it is a specific type of distributed database or a digital ledger of transactions. It provides the opportunity to record and transfer data, remaining safe, transparent, and resistant to any corruption.

What concerns about blockchain should virtual data rooms be aware of?

Due to the peculiarities of blockchain technology, it also demands computing power for cryptographic calculations.

How does blockchain provide security for digital credentials?

The details of this transaction can be recorded to the blockchain for additional security against fraud, removal, or unauthorized amendments.

What is blockchain secured credentials?

This means if the issuing school, college, or university closes, the digital credentials are still live, valid, and can be verified.

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Reducing Ransomware Attacks

Minimizing Password Usage

  • People use passwords to access workplace interfaces, carry out personal banking, shop for necessities at e-commerce sites, and more. However, some cybersecurity experts argue that blockchain security offers a better way. Even if you know all modern password best practices, there have probably been instances where you didn’t follow them for convenie...
See more on brilliancesecuritymagazine.com

Facilitating Safer Collaborations Between Parties

  • Research shows that data breaches affected more than 155 million individualsin 2020 and that the year had 1,001 such reported incidents. A different 2020 study revealed manufacturing as one of the at-risk industries for data breaches associated with financial gain. More specifically, 29% of breaches in that sector involved people using malwareto steal data. A motivated and malicious …
See more on brilliancesecuritymagazine.com

Protecting Health Records

  • As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, many people realized that personal health data sharing strategies might be the key to controlling the virus and avoiding outbreaks. For example, many government leaders around the world require people to show negative COVID-19 tests before arriving in a country. Ticketmaster also announced it might make showing a negative test result …
See more on brilliancesecuritymagazine.com

How Soon Will Blockchain Improve Security?

  • After reading about these examples, you may wonder how soon it’ll be before blockchain security makes a major impact on protecting content in the digital realm and safeguarding against hacks or other attacks. That’s anyone’s guess, because the biggest differences will likely come from widespread usage. However, the diversity of the use cases discussed here and elsewhere gives …
See more on brilliancesecuritymagazine.com

1.4 reasons blockchain could improve data security | CSO …

Url:https://www.csoonline.com/article/3279006/4-reasons-blockchain-could-improve-data-security.html

34 hours ago  · Combining the use of systems with authentication and auditing with cryptographic checksums to verify and validate data improves security and provides a distributed method of …

2.How Blockchain Can Improve Data Security & Integrity

Url:https://europechain.io/blockchain/blockchain-improve-data-security-integrity/

4 hours ago  · How Blockchain Can Be Used To Dramatically Improve Cybersecurity. By removing much of the human element from data storage, blockchains significantly mitigate the risk of …

3.Four Ways to Improve the Security of Blockchain

Url:https://securitycurrent.com/four-ways-improve-security-blockchain/

9 hours ago How does blockchain provide security? Blockchain technology produces a structure of data with inherent security qualities. It’s based on principles of cryptography, decentralization and …

4.How Blockchain Can Be Used To Dramatically Improve …

Url:https://cybersecurityventures.com/how-blockchain-can-be-used-to-improve-cybersecurity/

6 hours ago  · Blockchain has security at its core. It has come at a time when security risks were at their peak, and it is successfully implemented nowadays. Let’s see how exactly blockchains …

5.How Does Blockchain Technology Improve the Security …

Url:https://dataroom-providers.org/blog/blockchain-technology-in-virtual-data-rooms/

16 hours ago Blockchain can be a critical step in reducing security threats, preventing data leaks and hacks, and helping businesses in various areas. Secure asset retention: Assets that are secured in the …

6.How does blockchain improve internet security? - Quora

Url:https://www.quora.com/How-does-blockchain-improve-internet-security

33 hours ago Blockchain technology offers an extra layer of security for any type of transaction. The transaction isn’t limited to a purchase but includes awarding credentials, movement of files, …

7.How Does Blockchain Secure Credentials? - Accredible

Url:https://www.accredible.com/blog/how-does-blockchain-secure-credentials

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