Cybercrimes have become so advanced and sophisticated that no industry, business, or individual can claim to be safe. By the end of 2021, cybercrimes are? expected to hit $6 trillion. That’s a lot! Furthermore, over 70% of leaders in business organizations feel that they are more vulnerable to cybercrimes. This indicates that the current cybersecurity protocols may not be enough to ward off hackers and their relentless attacks.
Even large companies and services like Cox internet cable have included additional security layers and verification steps to avoid identity thefts or scams. Any company, government, or individual can become the victim of massive cyberattacks. They are working day and night to improve their cybersecurity measures and safeguard themselves. In short, no industry is safe from cybersecurity risks and these risks seem to rise by the day!
Cyberattacks and the Pandemic
A storm of cybercrimes was unleashed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The three leading types of cyberattacks were non-payment scams, phishing, and extortion. Companies were not expecting or prepared for the scale of this attack. Therefore, they surged to invest in various technologies that can strengthen their cybersecurity defenses.
In this uncertain scenario, blockchain-based security solutions seem to be a promising fit. The best part is that blockchain software development solutions are workable and effective in nearly every industry or sector. They can be launched in agriculture, healthcare, education, technology, and so on.
Why Blockchain?
Combating cybersecurity risks is not easy. But blockchain technology seems to be a powerful and promising solution. So, what exactly is blockchain? It is called a highly distributed ledger technology. Since it is highly distributed, it adds a stronger trust level by not only keeping data transparent but also encrypted and in discrete blocks. The encryption rights only stay with the members/nodes of this ecosystem. And only the members can view, create, and pass info.
Therefore, blockchain offers foolproof data integrity. Its robust security protocols have the capability to avoid any attacks or attempts by hackers. Even world-class organizations like NASA have incorporated blockchain infrastructure to ensure better security for data on cutting-edge developments. They also managed to retain anonymity, security, and privacy using blockchain for their air traffic services, communication, and operational support.
Therefore, we have established that blockchain is a practical solution to keep cybercrimes at bay. Let’s now talk about some of the most commendable qualities of blockchain technology in strengthening cybersecurity.
Offers Decentralized Data Storage
In the contemporary business landscape, data is the biggest asset that any company has in terms of increasing ROI and customers. Businesses today collect a massive amount of sensitive data that they don’t want to risk at any cost.
However, companies also tend to store all this sensitive customer data in a centralized location. This makes things easier for cybercriminals and hackers because they just have to attack one central space for entry.
So, blockchain comes to the rescue here! Blockchain is designed not to have single centralized storage spaces.
Also, there is no central authority. The entire stored data in the blockchain is encrypted. So, in an event of a hacker trying to modify some data, the whole blockchain system will begin to analyze every data block to figure out which block is different from all the rest. The system will simply then exclude the modified block from the chain, effectively stopping a malicious attack. Clean!
The only way to gain limited access by a third party to the blockchain data is through a cryptographic key. To reduce the risk of attacks and breaches, organizations are free to revoke these keys whenever they want.
Here are some other advantages:
- Low chances of data outage
- Notable low storage cost
- The data breach is impossible
- Constant monitoring and censorship
Prevents DoS or Denial-of-Service Attacks
To take down a website, DoS is an efficient and simple method. In this case, the hacker continues to send junk requests to the server until the website is unable to serve any requests and crashes.
This attack becomes successful because the DNS is again a centralized system. If we implement blockchain technology to store IP addresses and domain names, then the format will be encrypted with a completely decentralized DNS. This will mitigate all types of DoS attacks.
Avoids Frauds and Data Theft
As mentioned earlier, blockchain has its repositories in multiple locations. Therefore, if hackers attempt to corrupt or destroy data, they will need more than 50% of the computation power of the whole network. This is practically impossible when it comes to blockchain nodes.
Since many nodes in the blockchain infrastructure copy the same data, if the hackers want to be successful, they will have to hack the entire network. This means that data theft, data corruption, and hacking are humanely impossible in this case. Moreover, the bigger the network and its usage, the more concrete it is.
To conclude, businesses should make blockchain an essential part of their cybersecurity toolbox. Because blockchain is a unified and all-inclusive futuristic solution for all the cybersecurity issues any industry or business can encounter.??
