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The development of new technologies in a continuously evolving world has brought immense benefits. There is practically no industry in the world's economy that technology hasn't touched. Financial transactions have been made more accessible. We are in an era where information rules; it's at your fingertips. Your online orders can get to you in no time; you do not have to step outside your home to do the orders. It's becoming an intelligent world.
If you reside in the remotest village, there is at least one technology you can notice. Chances are you are reading this piece with your phone or laptop; that's technological advancement. However, the introduction of internet technology comes with its downside. Your privacy is at stake, and it's risky. Remember you provided your personal and sensitive information when registering an account with the bank? Same with your social media accounts. Lately, there has been a rise in cybercrimes perpetrated by individuals who seek to disrupt cyber systems and processes.
Here is the question– How do we keep our cyberspace and environment safe? What are the measures to take to ensure a secure cyberspace? One devoid of cyber crimes and hacks? Not to worry, blockchain technology comes to our rescue. A slight breach in an organization's security protocols can wreak colossal havoc. Personal data is lost, finances lost, and other devastation. You will agree that It's high time we found newer and stable means of ensuring security and preserving data. What is the place of Blockchain in ensuring cybersecurity? Come along!
Cyber-crimes--Threats to Cyber-security
Think of a way to protect critical systems and sensitive information from digital attacks; think cyber security. Cyber-security helps to identify and fight external threats against network systems and applications. It entails measures put together to prevent data breaches and curb cyber crimes. In 2015, Ginni Rometty, former chairman and CEO of IBM, stated, "cybercrime is the greatest threat to every profession, industry, and company in the world."
Similarly, a report by IBM reveals the average data breach to have increased by 2.6% from $4.24 million in 2021 to $4.35 million in 2022. Majorly, cybercriminals target the personally identifiable information of unsuspecting online users, ranging from their names, addresses, national identification numbers, and credit card information. Cyber crimes mainly thrive in environments with complexities in security systems and a lack of in-house expertise.
However, organizations with effective cybersecurity strategies, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning can combat cyber threats. It will help to reduce the rates at which breaches occur. Sadly, this is only sometimes the case. Despite the security strategies put in place by organizations to tackle cyber crimes, it's still on the rise. Over the years, the defense systems offered by security companies have some undertone of centralization, and many systems are at the receiving end of security breaches and attacks.
For example, on the 18th of January, 2022, some unnamed hackers breached the servers of the international committee of the red cross. The hacked servers host the personal information of over 515,000 vulnerable people globally. The hackers stole data related to the Red Cross "Restoring Family Links Program," which hosts the information of those separated from families due to conflict, war, disaster, and other occurrences. Although the system recovered, there is no doubt that the data breach had a heavy toll on the organization.
Similarly, in April 2022, cash app, the famous mobile payment company, fell to a data breach that affected 8.2 million existing and old users. According to Titan file, a security blog, the hackers downloaded reports containing customers' full names, stock trading information, portfolio values, and brokerage account numbers. However, important personally identifiable information such as DOB, SSN, and addresses was safe. In another latest development in 2022, the attack launched at Microsoft aimed to damage the company's reputation.
Lapsus$, an international cybercrime group, hacked the Azure DevOps server, downloading 37 GB of source code from the cloud computing software. Additionally, they agreed to have downloaded 90% of the Bing search engine source code.Although, Microsoft recorded no significant damage, these activities within our cyberspace call for concerns and the need to tighten the domains further.
Blockchain for Cyber-security—How does it work?
With the increasing hike in cyber crimes perpetrated by hackers, a more secure security protocol is needed to eradicate cybercrimes. Hence, blockchain and its distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) can create trust in a seemingly untrusted ecosystem such as cyber-security. This feature rates it high among other security protocols to work well as a technology to combat and reduce cybercrimes.
Notably, hackers are working around the clock to evade every security protocol that would hinder their nefarious activities. Blockchain can prevent hackable entrances from exposing an entire database. Relying on the fundamentals of the peer-to-peer network and with a solid verification process, blockchain is nearly impenetrable, which makes it difficult for cyber crimes to thrive. That way, your data is safe and protected. In addition, information on the Blockchain is constantly open and available to members. Members(Nodes) have access to all encrypted transactional data in the specific Blockchain.
The processes involved in Blockchain have proven to create a high level of trust and data integrity. Every organization that cares about protecting its data would find it helpful. As could be speculated, transactions on a blockchain are not usually finance-based. It means that users can deploy the technology for authenticating software updates to prevent the proliferation of malicious "updates." In other words, blockchain hashing can help verify updates while avoiding supply-chain attacks.
The goal of Blockchain in cyber-security is to utilize the computation of a data center that is not in use at a particular time. Furthermore, resources can be rented from other network members and used to manage a well-coordinated security system. Mind you; this does not affect the other computers in the system. A blockchain solution brings about changes in ownership and different information states between two or more parties.
As part of other solutions to cyber-security, blockchain technology can:
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Enhance Identity Security
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Strengthen transaction and Communication Security
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Eliminate data manipulations
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Offer Multi-signature login capabilities
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Enhance Domain Name System (DNS) Security
Blockchain for backup and recovery
A blockchain is a valuable tool for data backup and recovery. According to Alex Sakaguchi, solutions Marketer at veritas, "Data and IT staff will tend to incorporate more blockchain technology into their workflows for data security and protection. He further stated that organizations that efficiently rely on the Blockchain would enjoy the benefits that come alongside the technology in the coming years.
A typical backup and recovery system has the following features:
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Continuous/Automatic data backup
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Incremental backup
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Instant recovery
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Data deduplication
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Error-free copy
Often, and as businesses continue to address risks and exploit the data available, there would be synergy in compliance, protection, and security. Blockchain is handy for backup and recovery because it can cover and secure data stored anywhere. It will determine who has access to particular data at any time.
Conclusion
While organizations, multinational corporations, and governments clamor to adopt blockchain-based cybersecurity, it is still a work in progress. The integration of Blockchain and cybersecurity is still an evolving approach. Not all research ideas on digital identities, decentralized storage, and smart contracts fit all business needs. Careful consideration is needed so that its implementation does not become impractical or impossible. For the most part, Blockchain offers a different approach toward greater security, which is less hospitable to cyber criminals.
The system reduces vulnerabilities while providing strong encryption and verifying data ownership and integrity more effectively. It could also eliminate the need for some passwords, which experts see as the weakest link in cybersecurity. Moreso, Blockchain watches for malicious actions, and anomalies, without the need for a central authority. It uses one of the most critical cybersecurity tools, which is encryption.
A blockchain system can shield connected thermostats, smart doorbells, security cameras, and other vulnerable edge devices with encryption and digital signatures. The technology can also be a weapon against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The truth is that Blockchain has a huge potential to penetrate virtually any sector of the world's economy, and we're excited about the future.
Author Bio
I’m Ale Oluwatobi Emmanuel, an SEO content strategist, and writer for B2B SAAS and WEB 3 brands. Over the years, I’ve assisted quite a number of SAAS and web 3 brands curate content that resonate with their audience and bring them massive ROI. Achieving results with the content I produce give me a sense of fulfillment and keeps me going. To connect with me, you can reach me via LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ale-oluwatobi-emmanuel
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Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.