Blockchain technology offers a variety of design configurations and applications that can enhance security. However, despite all the supposed security advantages of the blockchain market, the blockchain market is still riddled with security issues. According to statistics, in 2021, encryption-related crimes caused more than $14 billion in losses, an increase of 57% over the previous year.

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Is blockchain design secure?

Blockchain technology digitizes and distributes records in the network so that the transaction verification process is no longer dependent on a single central authority.

Blockchains are always distributed, but vary widely in terms of permissions, size, roles, transparency, types of participants, and how transactions are processed. A decentralized structure offers inherent security advantages as it eliminates single points of failure.

Blockchains also consist of several built-in security features, such as cryptography, public and private keys, software-mediated consensus, contracts, and identity controls.

These built-in qualities provide data protection and integrity by verifying access, verifying transaction records, proving traceability, and maintaining privacy.

These configurations enhance the blockchain's position in the triad of confidentiality, integrity, and availability by providing improved resiliency, transparency, and encryption. However, blockchains are designed and built by people, which means they are subject to human error, bias or exposure based on use case, subversion and malicious attacks.

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A Use-Case-Based Approach to Blockchain Cybersecurity

The technologies involved in building blockchain-based platforms and applications have the potential to improve security, but technology is never the starting point. Security leaders must work with product and platform builders to first identify the issues, interactions, and tradeoffs of new security features before they can actively design, test, implement, and manage them.

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1. Resilience and availability

Decentralized infrastructure helps support resistance to attack, damage, and downtime. This process mitigates the following vulnerabilities:

• Distributed information and communication technology networks help reduce data exposure and redirect users when centralized databases are offline or under attack.

• Decentralized DNS helps achieve redundancy in the event of a DDoS attack.

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2. Data Integrity

Data on the blockchain cannot be changed because network nodes refer to and build on each other, and consensus is required to validate transactions. However, off-chain data can be corrupted. This is where on-chain signatures can enable new security-first blockchain use cases.

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3. Traceability and provenance

Transparency and traceability are at the core of blockchain design, but their security benefits manifest differently in different applications. In supply chain environments, digital distributed ledgers store tamper-proof records of transaction and shipment data across parties and product lifecycles. This reduces the risk of counterfeiting and tampering by either party.

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4. Authentication of Software and/or Device Interactions

Transactions on the blockchain are not always financial; they can be used for any verifiable interaction. With the proliferation of malicious "updates," it's good cyber hygiene to authenticate software updates.

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5. Personal identity verification

Several components of blockchain can be applied in identity protection, authentication, access management, etc. These features have many security advantages, including:

• Sensitive data protection.Blockchain technology can change the information stored on the chain, for example, hashes instead of personally identifiable information.

• data minimization.IT teams can use encryption techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs or selective disclosure to reveal only what is necessary for the application to function.

• Identity Theft Prevention.Blockchain uses cryptographic keys to verify identity attributes and credentials, preventing identity theft.

• Multi-signature access control and decentralized management.first level title

6. Ownership Verification

Proving ownership of online assets was difficult before digital ledgers existed. Even in the real world, behavior can be disrupted, authentication doesn't always cross borders, and hundreds of millions of people don't have access to stable government identities or financial services.

Just as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) enable artists to digitally watermark their media, the ability to use cryptographic keys to create immutable records of authenticity and ownership has numerous security advantages across many blockchain use cases, including:

• Students, teachers, and professionals can own their credentials regardless of jurisdiction, reducing falsified credentials.

• Creators can retain full rights to their media, improving copyright protection.

• Owners can prove their ownership and delegation.

• Manufacturers, like luxury brands, can attach NFTs to their wares to ensure authenticity.

Overall, in Maoqiu’s view, blockchain applications are already powering projects that rely on security, controlled access, accountability, transparency, and efficiency. Before implementing these use cases and using them to foster trust in the digital world, security leaders must understand the benefits and risks of blockchain's general design.