Cyber fraud is a growing and imminent threat that most Internet users have to face at some point. The magnitude of the threat may vary but the outcome remains the same—a hard day for the victim!
But things are changing for the better with the invention and evolution of blockchain technology. In a short span of time, the technology has taken significant strides and today, in the blockchain ecosystemOpens a new window , the entire decentralized framework works on a nodal model.
This means that every block is created, and is connected via a node. In this process, the information of one node passes to the other and the link just goes on and on with the creation of multiple blocks. All the data stored on the blockchain network remains immutable and time-stamped. This implies that the user cannot make any changes to it at any point of time. If someone does attempt it, he or she has to solve the equations of all the blocks at one point of time, which is technically impossible.
In this blog, we explore how blockchain technology impacts cyber security in this ever evolving age of technology.
DDoS Protection
With the age of digital transformation, a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) can be a significant threat that can instantly destabilize business. Hackers usually perform specific DDoS attacks using the Botnet.
These are attempts that can shut down business and drive away the competency standards of many companies. In the process, they can lose clients as well as reputation. There are other challenges as well where one can lose customer trust via malware infection or other forms of data leaks and hardware failures.
To deal with this challenge, many companies are using network filters to fend off hackers. There are other filters as well that can absorb the malicious traffic. These are a costly proposition that users will have to eventually incur.
But with blockchain technology, there is a common sharing alternative that is available. All the nodes in the network can jointly share the bandwidth and opt for the protection. In the event, where you do not want the complete bandwidth for the protection, it can be jointly shared to prevent the attack and even increase the loading time of the website.
Identity Theft Protection
The 2017 Identity Fraud Study reveals that over 15.4 million people have been victimized by cyber fraud. In all of these frauds, there has been a $107 billion loss. In most theft cases, the loss was related to the government benefits scheme, credit card payments, tax reports and other employment related frauds. A DID or a Decentralized Identity can instantly avert the frauds and put it to a grinding halt.
In the process of protection, the decentralized network stores all the valuable details in a decentralized environment. This is in case you can substantiate it with a situation, supposedly, Email Service Provider, where you are storing everything in their personal server.
So, anyone with details like your user ID and password can easily access your account without any problem. It can happen within the organization where the company staff or the banking institutions are using your details unscrupulously.
But in the decentralized environment, the activities and the transactions will be accessed only from your own device using the DID App. In this way, every completed transaction will be recorded in a distributed ledger and everyone will have the authority to approve or disapprove of it. If there is a disapproval, the transaction will not be legit and acceptable.
Fraud Protection
Smart contracts are effective instruments in the decentralized environment for mitigating the effects of fraud. In some cases, the customers have claimed fraud that happened due to non-delivery of the purchase. In such cases, they have rightfully asked for a chargeback.
There has also been a considerable rise in the chargeback frauds by 20% over the years. Even if the sellers are trying to file a suit and bring the buyers to justice, it will hurt them economically. Thus, they prefer just to slip away with that and simply settle for the chargeback clearance. In such situations, the sellers are always dependent on a third party or centralized system where they cannot do much about it.
But with decentralization, the shift moves on to the decentralization network or a public ledger. Thus, the smart contracts can work independently and execute the chargebacks based on specific guidelines mentioned in the terms and conditions of the sellers.
The tracking of the delivery will convert the order into sales and remit amount out of that. But only a digital revolution across the blockchain ecosystem can guarantee the use of such smart contracts in the e-commerce marketplace.
There are only a few e-commerce platforms available in the current blockchain space. However, as technology develops, there will be more coming up in the future.
Keyless Signature Infrastructure
Guardtime, an e-commerce vertical, has envisaged an ecosystem that has gone keyless. In this ecosystem, the transparency does the part of maintaining the safety and security. For countering the chargeback frauds, keyless signature infrastructure had a major role to play. As unlike its counterpart Public Key Infrastructure, the KSI does not need any external authorities.
As a result, it is easier and simpler to store the certificate and revocation lists. In the blockchain system, the smart contract automates the process via a hashing algorithm. Thus, the stored copies in the blockchain system or decentralized ledgers are compared with those that are stored freshly in the ledger. Once this happens, it will resolve issues like the prevalence of errors and other unpatched software in the ledger.
The Keyless Signature Security System performs optimally for supply chain and enterprise security. In most cases, it has resolved the last clicking error or “last click attribution†on numerous advertising platform. Thus, advertisers will be able to compute and evaluate the campaign that they have undertaken for the promotion. At the same time, even the consumers interests will be safeguarded from malicious links and websites.
New and Improved Solutions
Blockchain development companies are performing significantly towards crafting new and improved solutions for various sectors. Whether it is maritime, pharmaceutical or e-commerce, the immutable, tamper proof system has given new hope to set up and help establish a strong IT infrastructure for future challenges.