The document discusses the role of blockchain technology in enhancing cybersecurity across various industries by providing decentralization, transparency, and immutability. It highlights common cyberattacks such as malware, DDoS, and ransomware, while explaining how blockchain's mechanisms like consensus validation and encryption help mitigate these threats. Additionally, it outlines specific use cases for blockchain in secure private messaging, IoT security, secure DNS, and the verification of software identities.

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What is the role of Blockchain in cybersecurity?
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Entrepreneurs, policymakers and investors are increasingly adopting Blockchain technology
to transform the way businesses communicate with other companies, regulators and
customers. As an increasing number of companies rush towards implementing Blockchain
technology, its ecosystem becomes more diverse and dynamic.
Blockchain is a powerful innovation that brings positive changes to various industries,
including finance, supply chain, food, insurance and many more. Blockchain’s capabilities to
provide a decentralized ecosystem, transparency and immutability are implemented to
ensure cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity refers to protecting interconnected systems such as hardware, software and
data from information disclosure, thefts, disruption of services or any other cyberthreat.
The cybersecurity market is forecasted to grow from 152.71 billion USD in 2018 to 248.6
billion USD by 2023 at a CAGR of 10.2%. Cyber-attacks have grown to become even more
sophisticated, due to which demands for cybersecurity are increasingly growing. Emerging
technologies like Blockchain, Machine Learning and AI provide effective solutions for
addressing critical threats with faster detection, mitigation and response capabilities.
This article explores the relationship between Blockchain technology and cybersecurity,
along with a brief explanation of a few common cyberattacks.

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Common forms of cyberattacks
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Malware
Malware is malicious software that compromises an organization’s data and damages the
information system. It is introduced in various ways; for example, hackers use phishing
campaigns to induce users to click on a malicious link or attachments that install malware on
the user’s system. Malware helps to obtain users’ login credentials and other sensitive
information submitted to illegitimate sources.
Web application attack/ Credential stuffing
The initial step in mining users’ data is a web application attack. The data obtained from the
web application attack can form a part of an advanced brute force attack that uses stolen
credentials to gain access to the users’ accounts. It is known as credential stuffing. The stolen
credentials are systematically and repeatedly input to the website leveraging automated
scripts. The hackers now can successfully access the users’ accounts, funds and financial
data.
DDoS attack
Distributed Denial of Service attacks primarily targets large organizations. DDoS attacks
send a stream of data traffic to a targeted site with the intent to overload the system and
disrupt system operations permanently or temporarily. The cybersecurity controls
established at each node in a Blockchain network provide an additional layer of security that
contributes to perimeter defense in depth.

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Man-in-the-Middle attack
MITM or Man-in-the-Middle attack is much like eavesdropping that involves an
unauthorized actor positioning its access in transmissions between the user and the trusted
party with the intent to intercept or capture the information. MITM attacks are of two types:
First, a standard attack involves an unauthorized entity within the target’s physical range
which can access an unsecured network, such as a Wifi router.
The second type is the “Man-in-the-Browser” attack that involves the use of malware that is
injected into a user’s system and, without the knowledge of the user, records the data being
sent to a trusted third party website such as a bank.
Ransomware attack
The attackers threaten to block the organization’s access to their data unless it pays the
hackers to get back the access. Mostly, financial institutions face such attacks given the
importance of customer data.
How does Blockchain work to improve cybersecurity?
Blockchain chaining process
The blocks in a Blockchain ledger are arranged in an order and composed together to execute
transactions. A block consists of a header and a body. All the blocks are timestamped and
signed by their creators. The blocks form a chain by defining a pointer to the previous block.
The header contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, ensuring the immutability of
the last block.
Distributed Architecture
A distributed network is operational resilient as it has no single point of failure. Risk is
dispersed among multiple nodes and an attack on any single node or a few nodes would not
compromise the ledger. Thus, decentralization makes the Blockchain network a less
appealing target for ransomware attacks. In contrast, the centrally stored information is
more susceptible to attacks than the information stored at multiple nodes.
A ransomware attack requires to compromise on all or most nodes in the network. However,
restoring full service after the nodes has been compromised will not be instantaneous; there
might be some latency effects on the network recovery.
Consensus validation mechanism
The consensus mechanism is used to validate new blocks of data confers. A prescribed
member of nodes needs to reach a consensus on whether the new data block is valid and
eligible for the shared ledger. The consensus mechanism implements a continuous check on

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the integrity of past transactions and new data blocks.
A hacker would need to co-opt the consensus mechanism by compromising enough nodes to
manipulate the validation process and tamper with the ledger. The Blockchain network helps
prevent such attacks by implementing sufficient nodes and leveraging network rules to
obtain a consensus among nodes.
Encryption
Multiple forms of encryption are implemented at different levels, providing layered
protection against cybersecurity threats. Cryptographic algorithms include asymmetric key
algorithms and hash functions (SHA-256).
The linked lists and blocks are encrypted using hashes and digital signatures based on
public/ private key encryption.
What are the use cases of Blockchain for cybersecurity?
Secure private messaging
A vast amount of metadata is collected through social media platforms and most of the users
protect their services and data with weak and unreliable passwords. Many messaging
companies are switching to Blockchain to provide end-to-end encryption and secure users’
data.

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Blockchain is used to create a standard security protocol. It forms a unified API framework to
enable cross-messenger communication capabilities.
The world has witnessed numerous attacks on social media platforms like Twitter and
Facebook, causing data breaches and providing user information in the wrong hands.
Blockchain technology prevents such cyberattacks.
IoT security
Hackers increasingly use devices like thermostats and routers to obtain access to the system.
The vulnerable edge devices like Smart switches provide hackers easy access to the overall
home automation system.
Blockchain efficiently secures such vulnerable systems and devices by decentralizing their
administration. Blockchain combined with AI and IoT technology enables devices to make
security decisions on their own. The independence of central authority makes the IoT devices
more secure and allows them to detect and act on suspicious commands from unknown
networks.
Secure DNS and DDoS
A Domain Name System (DNS) is a centralized system that makes it convenient for attackers
to infiltrate the connection between IP address and the name of a website. DNS attack
renders the website cashable, inaccessible and redirectable to other scam websites.
On the other hand, a DDoS attack occurs when a targetted resource such as a server or a
website is denied service or access. Such attacks overload the site, dramatically slow down or
shut down the resource system.
Fortunately, Blockchain technology eliminates such attacks by decentralizing the DNS
entries. Decentralization removes the vulnerable single-point entry exploited by the
attackers.
Provenance of software
MD5 message-digest cryptographic algorithm is widely used to implement security and verify
activities, including firmware updates, patches, and installers, to prevent malware entry. The
MD5 algorithm compares the new software identity to hashes available on the vendor
website. It is not a complete foolproof algorithm and suffers from extensive vulnerabilities as
the hashes available on the provider’s site may already be compromised.
Blockchain technology comes as a savior in such cases. Blockchain permanently records the
hashes and doesn’t allow mutability. Hence, Blockchain proves to be more efficient in
verifying software identity by comparing to hashes stored in the ledger.
Verification of cyber-physical infrastructures

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System misconfiguration, data tampering and component failure have ruined the integrity of
data generated from cyber-physical systems. The capabilities of Blockchain in maintaining
data integrity and performing verification help authenticate the status of any cyber-physical
infrastructure. Data generated on the physical infrastructure components via Blockchain is
more assuring to the entire chain of custody.
Reduced human safety adversity caused by cyberattacks
Automated military vehicles, weapons and equipment operate on a closed network and
facilitate data transmission from sensors to remote-control databases. Hackers try to break
the security and gain access to networks such as Car Area Network (CAN). Even if a single
point of the network gets compromised, the attacker gets complete control over the
automotive functions. Such occurrences would lead to the nation’s insecurity and will directly
impact human safety.
Through data verification done by the Blockchain technology over any data that goes in the
system, such adversities are effectively prevented.
Conclusion
No matter how Blockchain technology is utilized, its significant components, including
transparency and immutability, help provide security to every industry. Decentralization
helps to eliminate the single target point that attackers can compromise. Therefore,
Blockchain becomes one of the most effective mitigation strategies for cyber threats.
If you want to integrate Blockchain technology to enhance and improve the cybersecurity of
your project, contact our Blockchain experts. Schedule a consultation call and discuss your
requirements.