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#Belfast2017: Blockchain and its Potential to Aid Cybersecurity

“There are plenty of industries that need to look into Blockchain”, and if they don’t have a Blockchain strategy, they’d better get one.

These were the words of Igor Kruiper, solutions architect, PwC, speaking at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies’ (CSIT) World Cyber Security Technology Research Summit 2017.

Kruiper presented a session on Blockchain and its role in the security industry, and after sharing a brief history of the technology that has made Blockchain what it is today, he outlined the potential it has to solve some of the biggest security issues the world is currently facing, arguing that whilst Blockchain needs cybersecurity, cybersecurity can also benefit from Blockchain.

Most poignantly, he explained, is the potential Blockchain has to help protect identities online, which is “pretty critical”. 

Kruiper added: “When we look at identity today online, you’ve got social media identity, financial identity, healthcare identity”, and so its important we have a way of controlling who can access our identifiable information, which Blockchain can offer.

Also, Blockchain can be used to protect the integrity of data, Kruiper said, as whereas traditional security models rely on preserving secrets, Blockchain security approaches rely on transparent and general knowledge, and “you don’t need to prove things that are general knowledge.”

Lastly, Blockchain can aid in protecting critical national infrastructure (CNI), as it addresses problems that are inherent to decentralized platforms (which are more resilient to DDoS attacks) such as trust and security.

“Blockchain is not a silver bullet,” Krupier admitted, but it does have characteristics that can help when “centralized weaknesses and single points of failure are concerned.” 

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