THE MAGAZINE FOR THE FUTURE BY TÜV SÜD

CAN HACKERS BE WARDED OFF WITH CHAINS?

—— Udo Schneider, security expert at Trend Micro, explains the advantages of blockchain and points out possible alternatives.

TEXT THOMAS SCHMELZER
PHOTO ISTOCK/DIGITAL VISION

Provided the chains are digital—a blockchain, for instance—then yes. Blockchain’s advantage is that allows information to be transmitted in a forgery-proof way using a decentralized database shared by several participants, making it impossible to copy. Udo Schneider, a security expert at Trend Micro, a global leader in IT security, therefore considers blockchain to be secure in principle. “Most successful attacks are directed against the structure of crypto algorithms, not against blockchain itself.”

Accordingly, this affects digital (Bitcoin) wallets or poorly secured passwords. Despite this, a blockchain might not always be the best solution. “It’s useful when the various participants don’t know each other well or trust one another,” Schneider says. Then it’s possible to track whether goods in a supply chain actually reach the various stations along the way, are processed there and then leave that same location. If such processes are contractually regulated, then other options are probably better.

MORE ARTICLES