Ensuring security with blockchain technology. Top 7 blockchain applications
Blockchain solutions have already started conquering the business world. Enabling to solve various issues, they are becoming widely integrated into the work of many companies.
Although blockchain emerged as a technology behind Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, it can be used for different purposes, e.g, for fraud protection, safe data storage, and carrying out transactions between autonomous parties with no intermediaries.
Since blockchain is based on cryptography and data in each block is hashed, it has a tremendous potential to solve a wide range of security problems.
What’s important, blockchain represents an immutable and inconvertible data digital record, so all the information, once recorded on the ledger, will be safely stored with no possibility to be changed or deleted.
This way, there are a lot of security advantages of blockchain technology, helping companies to benefit from its integration into their business operations. Let’s take a closer look at blockchain applications in the field of security.
Blockchain use cases in Security
1. Traceable secure transactions
Blockchain is a distributed ledger that provides a digital data record, where no one can change blocks or substitute an intermediate block in the chain. A financial transaction needs confirmations from the sender, receiver, and miner. Once they are made, the transaction is considered to be successful.
Each piece of information, each transaction, each user login are recorded, saved, and confirmed by all parties involved. Each insider threat is tracked and notified about. When carrying out and processing financial operations on the ledger, you can be sure that the data won’t be stolen or compromised.
Another valuable advantage of blockchain is the remove of worries related to the reputation of the other side. Providing trust and transparency, blockchain solutions allow transactions to be carried out between autonomous distrusting parties.
2. Blockchain as an evidence basis
In cyber forensics, blockchain can also significantly help. In court, blockchain can serve as an evidence basis, since all activities are recorded and stored on the ledger. It can help companies successfully fight against fraud, financial crimes, and theft of digital rights.
One of the main goals of cyber forensic specialists is to define all logins in the system and trace all activities (and their time) made by the network participants. Thanks to the technology, they get the ability to easily uncover past events and determine their consequence.
3. Control of network communications & Safe data storage
One of the key advantages of blockchain is safe data exchange and storage. The main concern in cybersecurity is to provide information safety. Representing a decentralized ledger and inconvertible data record, blockchain enables to control of all communications and other activities that occur in the system.
Not only cryptocurrencies can be the object of transactions, but any data as well. In the healthcare industry, for example, blockchain can be used for safe exchanges of important medical information between organizations, which allows them to improve document management, keep clinical histories and medical reports up-to-date, and reduce drug theft.
4. Authenticity confirmation & Protection from counterfeit
The quality and authenticity of goods are two key concerns for every customer. Certainly, they are also top priorities for every company taking care of good reputation and wishing to maintain customer credibility.
In such industries as luxury retail and electronics blockchain solutions can be integrated for providing the authenticity of goods. With the ability to check the product owner and trace the source it came from you can protect from counterfeit.
5. Minimization of human errors & Reduce of paperwork
Another “vulnerability” refers to paperwork, which includes human errors when inputting information and preparing documents, loss of important documents, data changes, and data thefts. Also, paperwork and keeping papers safe require a lot of time and attention.
Though the company can establish strong passwords and take care of permission access, there is a risk of employees not reliably protecting them and other private data. If intruders obtain passwords, the company may suffer huge monetary and data losses.
By using blockchain solutions for device verification, you can remove the need in logins and passwords. You can provide the device with an encrypted identity (like an SSL certificate), which is included and then verified on the distributed ledger.
As the participants having access always know who is doing what, all insider threats and suspicious activities are tracked and instantly shared on the network. You can write smart contracts to integrate a transaction verification system on both ends. It will enable your company to successfully deal with human errors and minimize security vulnerabilities.
6. Securing an IoT ecosystem
In the Internet of Things, blockchain comes with great data protection capabilities. Representing an immutable decentralized ledger, the technology can be used for monitoring and recording communications between connected devices.
By integrating blockchain solutions, companies can keep the history of their activities, track suspicious activities, and resolve other IoT security issues. Find out, how to secure IoT with the help of blockchain, in one of our recent posts.
7. Traceable supply chains
Representing a large complex industry with many sides involved, supply chain management carries various challenges. Companies often suffer from illegal practices and counterfeit of goods (especially of drugs and pharmaceuticals).
When being transported from their production to retail stores, goods have to pass up to 100 and more delivery stages and different parties (manufacturers, suppliers, retailers, etc.). The life cycle is really complicated and requires intelligent control with each product step tracked and monitored.
Blockchain solutions can help ensure the full visibility of supply chains by providing each product with a digital ID. It also removes the worry about possible fraud and counterfeit as the data can’t be changed or deleted.
When each participant enters data about the process status (e.g., about receiving goods at some delivery point or goods successfully delivered) and conditions into the ledger, everything is recorded and saved on it. Thus, each network participant can check out all the information he or she needs with just a few clicks.
Thus, blockchain holds a tremendous potential to solve various security challenges, including data security and safe storage, protection from fraud and counterfeit, and authenticity confirmation.
Besides recording and processing financial transactions, it can be used for securing the Internet of Things and providing the control over supply chains.
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