What the Blockchain Taught Us about IT Security

Pierluigi Paganini August 30, 2018

It is not just about security, but in utilizing Blockchain to secure your company and your information.

With how fast technology is improving and being included in everyday activities or jobs to make them fast and efficient, it is important to make sure you are secured, especially when on the internet. You can have your own internet security installed, but if you are planning on running a reliable business you will need a strong and trusted company to provide secure IT systems and support. But it is not just about security, but in utilizing Blockchains to secure your company and your information.

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What Does IT Stand For?

IT stands for Information Technology and it is basically all the technological advances we have made as a society. At first, IT was slow to start and no one believed that it would go far. But with how much IT has helped and made things easier for people, it is not a wonder why it has become a need for social progress. IT helps the American economy create new products, find the full potential in their employees, participate in global events and company offers, and even manage their own companies.

Without the improvement or advances of IT, we as a society would not be the high functioning one that we are now. But no matter how advanced our technology becomes, IT is ever the more prone of being abused and used to access private and sensitive information. That is why it is vital to have some sort of protection on the company’s system. It cannot be just any simple protection, it has to be a strong form of protection in order to protect the vital and important information. That is where blockchains come in.

What is a Blockchain?

Blockchains can be hard to understand, especially if you do not know many technological terms. Blockchains were originally used as a type of online currency, such as Bitcoin, the original blockchain. But as of recent, large scale companies are starting to use blockchains as a type of database that stores, shares, and maintains data across other businesses. There are different types of databases that blockchains can create and maintain and it is up to the company to decide on which ones work for them. They types of Blockchains are:

  • Public Blockchains
  • Blockchain-Inspired Cryptocurrencies
  • Private Blockchains

Public blockchains are openly available to the public and anyone with a computer can go on, see the data, and update it without needing any special permissions.

Blockchain-Inspired cryptocurrencies record ledgers that anyone can access, but it does need some connection to a business or company.

Private blockchains are secure and personal and are only meant to be shared among a certain group of computers and are not available for the public to access.

Each type of blockchain has its own benefits and security levels, so it is up to the company to decide just how secure they want their information to be.

What Type of Blockchain Technologies are there?

There are five types of blockchain technologies that you should look out for if you are considering adding blockchain technology to your business or company.

  1. Smart Contracts
  2. Blockchain-as-a-Service
  3. Energy Efficiency
  4. Permissioned blockchains
  5. Tangle

Smart contracts do exactly as you direct them to based on an input of coded instructions. They are reliable if you require certain business actions to be completed at certain times in a specific way.

Blockchains-as-a-Service offers everything businesses need in order to start a blockchain in case the businesses are unable to start one themselves.

Energy efficiency tries to reduce the amount of energy needed in order to create and maintain blockchains by operating on a recycled or proof-of-work energy cycle.

Permissioned blockchains are used mainly by banks and governments to provide control over who can make transactions and who can create changes.

Tangle is a blockchain without being a blockchain. It takes all of the advances blockchains have and tries to improve on the limitations.

It is a lot of information to take in, especially when first starting out on trying to use blockchains. But it can become relatively simple with the right help and understanding of how blockchains can be an ideal form of security on the web.

How are Blockchains Helping in Online Security?

Blockchains and crypto currencies are rising in usage more and more each year with every technological advance. As businesses start to rely more on technology and online use, they have to be careful to make sure that they are safe and their information does not fall into the wrong hands. Blockchains work to make businesses and companies feel secure about storing their information online to make it easier to access and be used by others within the company. Blockchains work to create strong, impregnable walls that are hard to break through without the proper permissions.

Is this a Worthwhile Job?

Companies should invest in learning how to use blockchains or to train others in the skill since it seems like blockchains will be in high demand within the next year or so. It is still a relatively new concept, so while it is still starting out companies will be looking for the best blockchain engineers. The great thing about learning the blockchain skill is how versatile it is. Almost every type of company could use and benefit from the security blockchains offer. It has the potential to change lives just like the internet originally did when it first came out.

Blockchains are still a new concept that not everyone has heard about or fully understand the potential that it has. It will take some time for companies to start using blockchains instead of their previous security systems, but the change is expected to happen in around a year. You can be assured that blockchains will soon become normality when it comes to online security. It is best to start researching on blockchains, what they can be used for, and what you can do to make the transition easier.

About the author Ali Qamar

Ali Qamar is a privacy, blockchain and cybersecurity enthusiast, his work has been featured in many major tech and security blogs including InfosecInstitute, VFTimes.com, Hackread, ValueWalk, Cryptodaily, Intego CryptoCoin.News, and SecurityAffairs to name a few. He runs SpyAdvice.com

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – blockchain, cybersecurity)

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