How banks are robed through coffee makers or why does the Internet of things need blockchain
One of the main advantages of blockchain which attracts a wide range of industries is the provision of a high level of security of information stored on the blockchain. It can be information of any kind, including monetary transactions, which make the blockchain system such an important technology for the financial industry. For example, our platform SHIFT.cash, specializes in loans secured by car titles, uses blockchain. This means that the money of investors who make loans and their personal information will be reliably protected. Moreover, technology extends the boundaries in the literal sense of the word. The principles of blockchain do not depend on the state borders, which means that safe transactions on the blockchain can be performed at the international level. So, within the limits of our project the investor and the borrower can be in different ends of the earth.
The information stored on the blockchain is decentralized. This means that there is no central node that can be hacked and attack, thereby, the entire system. That is, for an effective cyber-attack, you need to hack many computers connected to a single system at once. In most cases this is not possible.
The technology of blockchain is adopted by a wide range of industries and spheres. The interaction of the blockchain with the Internet of things is a good example of how one breakthrough technology strengthens the weak spots of another.
The Internet of things is about objects that can interact with each other and with the environment, and through the connection to the network transmit information or receive instructions for action. The first example of the Internet of things in action was a toaster, which in 1990 the American John Romki switched on and off remotely. There are already a lot of “smart” things in the world. The simplest examples are the smart house systems, which allows you to warm up the dinner by the time you come home, save electricity or turn on your favorite music, and push the curtains exactly according to the schedule. Or “smart” devices that analyze information about their user and then interpret them with special software.
Their development is intensively engaged including by Apple, Google and Samsung. In fact, there are a lot more spheres where the internet of things can be developed. It not only makes life easier for people at the everyday level, but also solves more global problems. For example, one of the most important areas is the saving of natural resources.
They say (at Gartner) the Internet of things by 2020 will unite 26 billion devices. But for the time being, all these devices have a vulnerability — security. According to a study by F5 Networks, the number of attacks on IoT devices and infrastructure grew by 280% in 2017. For the most part this is due to the spread of malicious software. Hackers hack Internet devices and use them to conduct DDoS attacks and host infrastructure by trojans.
So, in 2016, the company Dyn, the operator of the DNS service, was cyber-attacked. They came, as it turned out, from the devices of the Internet of things. At first one device was infected, then the virus spread through the local network to other devices. Another example is how an American casino was nearly hacked by a “smart” aquarium. By gaining access to the aquarium, hackers scanned the entire network, and found there are new vulnerabilities.
The point is that at todays stage “smart” things are connected to centralized nodes. The more devices are connected, the more unreliable become the servers through which they exchange information.
If the devices of the world of the Internet of things become participants in a decentralized network, an attack on one of the devices will not lead to a global cyber attack on the entire server. In this case, the devices will still be able to exchange information among themselves.
So, judging by how things are going, “smart” devices will become more common in time. And the faster this world grows, the more urgent is the issue of its security. And so far, one of the most effective tools for resolving this issue is the blockchain.