Just Another Blockchain Implementation?

I am the acting Director of Engineering (probably a more glorified Project Manager with very broad authority) here at a small and upcoming tech company in Tacoma, WA. We’ve been developing applications with unmatched security and encryption, for sharing and transmitting secure data, for a long time now. We’ve built solutions for multiple government agencies, the military, and hospitals.

With the introduction of cryptocurrencies, blockchain is all the buzz. Companies think, “I’ll add blockchain to my name, say I’m implementing blockchain, and miracles will occur. Now I’m secure”. It’s getting a bit irksome.

Sorry to burst the bubble, but you probably aren’t secure in the way you want to be. Blockchain is a secure immutable record of everything that happened, but what is it securing? The record of what happened with it? Yes. Your data? No. 

We are in the process of integrating blockchain and smart contracts/digital ledgers, along with the transmission of highly encrypted digital assets in a decentralized environment. Almost every few days, I get asked to look at another blockchain company, and see how our technology is different than theirs. Most seem to deal only with implementation of yet another blockchain and how it’s better than the others. They claim features such as better scalability, being faster, smaller, etc.

Very few seem to be actually dealing with securing the data itself.

And frankly, that’s kind of scary. Companies are being left to secure their data on their own. They are relying upon TLS/SSL encryption, with its inherent security risks, or other methods of sending data that may or may not be any better. Or worse, they assume they are already secure because they are using blockchain technology.

Make sure you are looking at both pieces of the puzzle; blockchains AND securing your data when being both transmitted and stored.