Blockchain technology developed to guarantee the value of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum is now being adopted by engineers as a way to fight off the risk of a hacker breaking into the connected appliances of today’s smart homes.
In recent years, domestic appliances smart enough to automate tasks ranging from ordering Christmas gifts to turning on thermostats have spread to millions of homes across Europe.
This increasing interconnection, often referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), is attracting an eclectic range of enthusiasts. Yet according to Javier Augusto at Televes, an IT company in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, start-ups and tech firms are not the only ones exploring its opportunities – hackers are keen on the concept too.
‘Each connected device opens a new crack in the security of a computer network,’ said Augusto. ‘It is unclear how safe the cybersecurity tools we have today can keep IoT devices. They were developed for internet protocols, not Bluetooth or 4G.’
Augusto raises concerns that intruders who break into connected products like activity trackers, smart fridges or fire alarms could spread across home networks to access bank credentials or eavesdrop on conversations.
‘Blockchain is a piece of software that essentially crowd-sources oversight,’ said Augusto. ‘It works by giving lots of computers one piece of a puzzle that can only be solved as a joint effort.’
Whereas cryptocurrencies use blockchain to check that no two people spend the same coin, the GHOST project is adapting the software and exploiting it to make sure that no outsiders tamper with the list of cyber threats hosted on its gateways.
GHOST partners have designed their gateways to record encrypted information on all other gateways in their network. To trick the blockchain, a hacker would have to commandeer half the machines in the network.
‘In principle, blockchain technology guarantees that our security gateways remain clean and up to date,’ said Augusto. ‘This would be an unprecedented step forward in cybersecurity.’
He expects that the GHOST consortium will field-test the first features of their device in a 2019 prototype, and roll out the full technology by 2022.
News Source: https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/blockchain-making-houses-safer_en.html
What is blockchain technology?
A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records called blocks. i-e Blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency are recorded chronologically and publicly.
Originally devised for the digital currency, Bitcoin, the tech community is now finding other potential uses for the technology.
Blockchain technology is like the internet in that it has a built-in robustness. By storing blocks of information that are identical across its network, the blockchain cannot be controlled by any single entity, and has no single point of failure.
