As companies have moved their infrastructure from local sites to online, they have also increased the potential for malicious cyberattacks. Storing data and access logs in blockchain could lower the risk of data breaches and other cyberattacks.
With the growing capability of
cloud computing and the increased amount of enterprise data, most companies have shifted their infrastructure online. This reduces theefforts needed to manage local servers and data centers, however, it also leaves them exposed to malicious cyberattacks. The rising fame of
blockchain with regards to data security has seen a marked increase in the number of blockchain based security solutions providers. Each of them has created a different approach, and each of them has targeted various industries with their solutions.
India-based startup Block Armour, for example, has developed a secure system to protect enterprise data from being seen and stolen by malicious hackers. Block Armour combines private permissioned blockchain network and Transport Layer Security (TLS) technology to deliver an advanced Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) powered by blockchain technology.
Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) is a security framework developed by the Cloud Security Alliance that controls access to data based on identity. Under this approach, all endpoints seeking to gain access to a given infrastructure are required to be authenticated and authorized before entries.
In the case of phishing, a
hacking attack often seen in cybersecurity, Block Armour's solutions include three authentication processes — including passwords, user digital ID and device digital ID — to keep hackers outside of the system and secure enterprise data. "We have developed Secure Shield Architecture (SSA), which protects systems and provides secure network access. The systems are rendered invisible providing protection against known and unknown threats. Only authenticated and
authorized users and devices are allowed to see and access these protected systems," said Narayan Neelakantan, Co-founder and CEO of Block Armour.
See Attacks Instantly
Narayan Neelakantan,
Co-Founder and CEO,
Block Armour
Block Armour's solutions store digit al identities in the private permission blockchain to securely identify users and devices. In addition, access logs are also stored in the blockchain, making them immutable and tamperproof. According to the company, it takes 100 days for enterprises and organizations to detect an attack on average, since attackers are able to raise the track tempering with logs. With its solution storing logs in the blockchain, companies would be able to see attacks on the system instantly.
Block Armour's Digital Vault
cybersecurity solution has been used to protect customer KYC (know your customer) information in the financialsector. Its IoT Armour solution to secure communication between IoT devices and cloud servers has also been adopted in the manufacturing sector.
"Most of the other cybersecurity solutions in the market are point products. Our goal is to deliver value to the customer with a holistic product," said Neelakantan. "We are among the few products which can protect systems deployed on premises as well as in the cloud using asingle console. We also have the ability to protect IT and IIoT systems using a single platform.”
Storage Limitations
In the field of data security, one of the biggest challenges is to provide restricted access to data to authorized users and to update, and enforce these permissions throughout the lifetime of the data or for new data sets created.
One way to solve this issue is to give control to the data owner. Blockchain does this by offering a mechanism to the owner to reinforce granular access control in a scalable manner for stored data.
"However, currently there are limitations on the size of data which can be stored on the blockchain. Although there have been developments to address these shortcomings in the recent past, much work needs to be done before these issues are resolved," said Neelakantan.