Blockchain technology has the potential to help our cybersecurity teams address the challenges they face and improve their workflows. It is an evolving topic of discussion among information security professionals and a growing area of interest to the general public. It is important to remember that blockchain is just a component of the overall cyber risk framework and not a panacea in itself. Blockchain implementation code and the environments in which this code runs must be checked for cyber vulnerabilities.
Distributed ledgers have a key feature not immediately apparent—decentralization. The separation of functionality and a focus on interoperability make blockchain networks effectively immune to attacks. By removing single points of failure, blockchain decreases the potential attack surface, increasing overall network resiliency. Increased protection comes from the recognition that security is not just an endpoint issue and that data centers are only as safe as the systems they contain.
Blockchain applications are still relatively new, and this means that attackers often have an advantage over defenders. If an application is built using open source components, there is a possibility that a vulnerability in one of the components may allow an attacker to break into the system. That being said, organizations should treat blockchain applications like their other critical business computing resources and follow generally accepted practices for managing known vulnerabilities.