Blockchain is giving a new dimension to data security and data authenticity in data management

Blockchain is giving a new dimension to data security and data authenticity in data management
Traditional data management methods are undergoing rapid changes by using new technologies
like Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), cloud computing, and blockchain
that have deeply impacted the business world. Companies like RemoteDBA.com that have years
of experience in data management and are well known for their services in database
administration are now embracing the new technologies to stay tuned with the industry’s best
practices. Companies sticking to traditional operating methods face enormous challenges from
businesses that use modern technologies and race ahead in the competition to ensure better
business results.

Blockchain holds great promise in data management and business improvement because of the
unique technology behind it. Blockchain has the edge over other technologies used for data
management because of the kind of information that one can derive from the data on parsing it.
The data history in the blockchain is so exhaustive that you can know about every handling that
the data has experienced, like who did what with the data and when. Perhaps the biggest
attraction of blockchain is to create entirely tamper-proof data entries that no one can dispute,
repudiate, or redact. Data remains wholly protected from any misuse.

Blockchain is beneficial for data management

Realizing the benefits of blockchain, more and more data management professionals are using the
technology to empower businesses and stay ahead in the competition. Here are the benefits of
using blockchain for data management systems.

Data security – Data safety is the top priority for all organizations, and it is pretty challenging to
ensure fool-proof security of the databases by using traditional security technologies. Despite the
best efforts to protect databases, data breaches happen frequently, and except for some breaches
involving big companies, most incidents go unreported. However, businesses keep suffering from
data theft and data losses as the reach of cybercriminals keep expanding. The use of advanced
technologies to steal data is a big concern for all organizations. Even the best security systems
remain vulnerable to the growing security threats. Blockchain technology ensures complete data
protection due to its inherent data security features.

Data quality

You can use either public or private networks for storing data obtained from the digital ledger on
different nodes. Cross-checking data and analyzing it is necessary before can add any information
to another block. The extra layer of verification reinforces data security. According to the
predictions of Gartner, there is likely to 50% improvement in data quality by 2023 due to the use
of smart contracts for checking and normalizing data. The consortia of Blockchain can even
enforce a higher standard for data, but there are chances of a decrease in data availability by 30%
during this time.

Data traceability

Data traceability is applicable for all kinds of data for internal and external use, and it points to
the data history, application and location. Blockchain can enhance data traceability by providing a
unique identifier for each product by using tokens to ensure secure information storage. With
reference to the hashtag algorithm, it is also possible to store information away from the chain, and organizations can give restricted access to the stored information. The linearity of blockchain ensures easy following of a historical chain of events.

Real-time data analysis

The transparent nature of the blockchain and its distributed network allows businesses to notice
any irregularities right at the time of occurrence, and it is visible in spreadsheet documents. It is
also possible to collaborate on the same sets of data simultaneously. The opportunity of real-time
data analysis not only improves security but allows more effective use of resources and more
accurate supply-demand matching.

Here are some real life examples of making the best use of blockchain for data management.

The Estonia government uses blockchain for data management

Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI) is a new blockchain-based technology that Estonia uses to
protect public data. Blockchain is used for storing data and distributing it on a private network of
the government. The technology uses the process of creating hash values that represent much
larger data sets. These values are only good for identifying records but cannot tamper with them
to reconstruct the information contained in the data. Changing files lead to the addition of new
hash values to the blockchain that then remain unchanged. The transparent system allows close
monitoring of changes to records.

Authentication of legal documents with blockchain

Taking advantage of the tamper-resistant and immutable data storage in blockchain, organizations
use the technology to authenticate documents with considerable legal importance. Blockchain
records can help establish the integrity and ownership of documents together with the timestamp
because of their inconvertibility. This aspect has enormous implications for deeds, wills, contracts,
legal correspondence, court papers, and other documents that require legal vetting and
authentication. Blockchain provides incontestable proof that the document existed on that date
and, if needed, can even provide proof of document ownership.

Intellectual property rights dispute resolution by using blockchain.

In case of disputes about intellectual property, it often requires proving the existence of prior art,
which is a tough proposition. The digitization of modern art has only made things more difficult
and the problem more acute because of the chances of easy duplication of digital creations by
apparently modifying the date of creation and the ownership. Although it is possible to sign digital
creations using the Private Key Infrastructure (PKI), the signatures lack authenticity because they
do not include a reliable timestamp. It does not help to determine which of the digital assets was
created first.

Combining blockchain and PKI is now possible to provide the right solutions for disputes involving
intellectual property rights. Parties can sign digital assets by using PKI, and then by placing the
signature on blockchain, it is possible to affix the signature and date on the digital asset.
The rules of blockchain for data management help overcome the constraints of traditional data
management systems. Still, since the rules relating to the legitimacy of transformations, the data
authenticity is of the highest degree.