In the information technology world, permanence means security. When something is permanent, it is immutable, immune to change — not just from a read/write perspective, but from a hacker's perspective. If a file is 12,962 bytes, permanence ensures that every single one of those 12,962 bytes can never be altered.

The blockchain is permanence. That's why it's so revolutionary to the IT security industry. That permanence removes trust out of equations. There's nothing to hack, no place to go, no trust to place or lose faith in; it's simply there.

IT security is constantly looking to seal off risks and holes, but the blockchain has no points of entry. It achieves this by hashing data in a one-way stream with no keys. Even if a file's hash is published, it is impossible to obtain information from the hash, even with the advent of quantum computing.

The blockchain closes a large gap in digital trust, allowing societies to operate fully online. Governments around the world have discussed the Smart City model, but only something permanent such as the blockchain can truly provide the data infrastructure for such a thing.

Let's consider a micro version of the Smart City. For CIOs, they are the overseers of their network, dealing with both internal and external traffic. Billions of bytes coming and going, and it only takes one unscrupulous person to take a block of data and hold it for ransom until a sum of money (usually Bitcoin) is delivered. This technique, known as ransomware, is a possibility every time a non-IT-issued device enters your network.

How? It’s not that the device owners have malicious intent. Far from that. All it takes is one device being exposed to an experienced cybercriminal at some point. That cybercriminal only needs access to one laptop or tablet as a conduit to your Wi-Fi network before all of your data is at risk.

For CIOs, it is your responsibility to keep that data safe and maintain your network’s integrity. So how do you accomplish that and remain free of ransomware?

What’s at stake

In the modern digital age, data is the true currency of the world. Transaction records, proprietary designs, archived information and private discussions all take place via ones and zeroes, not ink and paper. That makes guarding it a complex and wide-ranging process, one that continuously evolves to stay ahead of the hacker curve. Consider the stakes of losing data:

• Internal communications: If staff across all levels feel that digital communication cannot be secured, that will create serious inefficiencies in collaboration, review and agreement. This is magnified a hundred-fold when factoring in remote work across the globe.
• Customer trust: From an external perspective, customers will hesitate to transmit any type of secure or financial data if they know that their information is at risk. That directly impacts the bottom line.
• Company reputation: Even if just one security breach goes public, that’s enough to tarnish a company's reputation. This ripples out to every facet of your business: talent retention and satisfaction, customer trust, sales, investors, and so on.

The blockchain solution

Ransomware attacks tend to come in several different ways. Sometimes, access is blocked from critical data. Other times, data becomes encrypted, with the hacker only knowing the way to decrypt the data.

In even more extreme circumstances, small-but-critical amounts of data are removed without record, creating a digital needle in a haystack of bytes. Most companies don’t fully know where their data is gleaned from, making the traceability of an issue a problem worthy of Sherlock Holmes’ deduction skills.

However, the blockchain is one of the best modern methods of protecting data from this type of attack. Because the blockchain offers both complete transparency and data permanence, and sort of alterations to databases can be quickly identified by digital forensics teams.

This information goes beyond just determining what has been blocked, removed or altered; a record of permanence such as the blockchain also creates a trail of breadcrumbs to identify the origin of invasive access and further details about the culprit.

Locking your house

The CIO is responsible for locking down company systems. This starts with choosing proper tools in all aspects of the company, from application access to issuing company devices to proper security for visiting devices.

The rise of the blockchain in recent years provides one of the most powerful new tools for data networks. They can create unbreakable history and automatically audit systems for changes, flagging potential threats in real-time.