Are you interested in learning how blockchain technology can be used to protect your code against potential vulnerabilities? We have the right answers. This technology offers many cybersecurity benefits, including financial services and healthcare. However, blockchain solutions can also be used to provide peace of mind for the development process.
Recent high-profile cases involving billion-dollar businesses highlighted the need for companies that can prove ownership of code. This article will discuss how security-conscious developers such as Errna use this technology to make sure your code is completely safe.
A blockchain application acts as an immutable database, so anyone caught stealing your code should be careful! Our approach to security can stop code theft from going unpunished!
Blockchain Security for Your Codebase
Let’s now examine the following questions:
- Developers must sign code to prove ownership.
- Programmers must securely store transaction records to prove that they own the code.
- A clear audit trail should be maintained with the date and timestamp.
- Developers must be able to protect their code from unauthorized use.
1. A Digital Signature To Prove Ownership
Blockchain technology heavily relies on digital signatures to authenticate transaction initiators. These points are pertinent:
- Blockchain networks use modern data encryption technology. This is the basis of digital signatures for users.
- The “public key-private encryption” is used by popular public networks such as the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchain.
- Two keys are available to users. The public key can be shared with other users. The private key is what users must keep secret.
- The public key encrypts the message, while the private key decrypts it.
- The public key can be mathematically related to the private key.
- To create the public key using the private key, one can use the encryption algorithm. The reverse is impossible. It will take computers billions of years to create a private key using a public key.
- Cryptocurrencies can be described as mathematical money. A digital token is, in essence, just a piece of information.
- Users of cryptocurrency or a digital currency such as bitcoin get a cryptocurrency wallet that stores their cryptocurrencies. They set up their private and public keys. They then only need to protect their private key.
- The digital signature can be used to sign transactions and complete the authentication process.
- It is as simple as proving ownership of the digital coin. This information can be protected by digital signatures and wallets.
- Look beyond cryptocurrency. The same concept of user authentication with digital signatures in enterprises will be found.
- Hyperledger Fabric (Fabric), doesn’t run cryptocurrencies. These networks still deal in information. This information is created by users. The information is also available to other users. Fabric provides digital signatures, and Fabric even offers a “Hardware Security Model (HSM), which is hardware-based enhanced digital security for digital signatures.”
Software companies can use digital signatures to prove that they own the code.
2. Store Your Code On A Blockchain
Developers must secure their code. Developers need to store their code securely in order to prove that they are the true owners. You can do this in one of two ways:
2a. This is similar in nature to how smart contracts are created by developers. It works like this:
- Modules are coded by developers.
- It can be used to store the data.
- The code for Ethereum smart contracts is stored in “Contract Accounts (CAs)” on the blockchain.
- Fabric developers use “chain codes” to deploy on this technology. The fabric uses the term “Chaincodes”, which are smart contracts.
2b. Let’s say you don’t wish to reveal the contents of your code. To do this, you can use the “Zero Knowledge Proofs” technique. These methods work in the following manner:
- Programmers code modules and store them in an underlying database.
- They only store the proof that the code exists on the blockchain.
- They don’t reveal any coded content. Anyone who wants to see proof of ownership can view it.
- This technique is also known as “Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non Interactive Arguments of Knowledge” (zkSNARKs).
3. Secure Your Transactions
You now have the code and evidence of its existence stored. Now you want to be sure that it will not be altered. The following are some of the ways that blockchain ensures digital tokens’ immutability:
3a. A transaction can be made to assert ownership of the code
- Multiple transactions can be grouped together in a single block.
- For creating the hash value of a block, cryptographic hash functions can be used. This hash value is stored in the next block along with all transactions. As new data is added, this pattern continues.
- A completely different hash can be created by even a small change in the data of any block.
- To change a block, one will have to modify all blocks that follow it. It is impossible to do this because it requires very high computing power.
- Transparency is guaranteed by public blockchains. Anybody trying to modify existing blocks will be noticed by other nodes, who will resist the change.
- When creating a new block, the consensus algorithm is used. Complex mathematical puzzles require users to use computing power-intensive operations.
- This happens in a competitive environment. Hackers will need to manipulate most of the participants in order to compromise the network. That’s quite impractical.
These security measures are designed to protect transactions from tampering.
3b. Enterprise blockchains
Enterprise blockchains are private networks of participants that have been trusted. They protect records from being altered in the following ways:
- They use a consensus algorithm that involves multiple roles. Each role has separate responsibilities during the transaction validation process. The transaction validation process follows organizational approval workflows.
- R3 Corda uses an algorithm that is consensus-based to verify transaction validity and uniqueness. Smart contracts verify validity.
- The protocol program checks to see if there have been any other transactions that used the input states in question. If it did not, it is considered a unique transaction.
Important Note: Transaction authentication is performed using a digital signature to create a transaction record on it. Each valid block contains the appropriate date and timestamp information.
4. Use this Technology To Prevent Unauthorized Use Of Your Code
After you have signed and secured your code using this technology and created a complete audit trail, it is time to protect your code from unauthorized use. This is possible with smart contracts:
- Smart contracts are code pieces that can be used openly with “If-Then-Else” conditions.
- They are impervious to tampering and can also be used autonomously.
- They can transfer cryptographic assets only if certain conditions are met. Their execution is permanent.
- Smart contracts can be set up to define conditions that only authorized parties will have access to your code.
- You can create smart contracts on a variety of public blockchain platforms.
- On public platforms, you can create “Distributed apps” (DApps). You can only allow authorized parties to access your code by using these distributed blockchain apps.
- Ethereum is the most popular platform, where developers can create smart contracts with programming languages.
- Lisk also allows developers to code DApps with JavaScript programming language. Although this is not a smart-contract platform, programmers can integrate smart agreements with DApps that run on Lisk.
- Developers can now set up Ethereum smart contracts with Hyper Fabric since late 2018.
- To code smart contracts, developers can also make use of enterprise networks.
Are You Planning to Use Blockchain Technology to Secure Code?
This technology holds great potential for data provenance. It is extremely beneficial to secure code with blockchain security. The technology is still relatively new and rapidly evolving in the blockchain industry.
The development of blockchain frameworks and platforms is also ongoing, increasing the complexity. Because it is a niche technology, it can make coding difficult.
Therefore, it is crucial that you find the right partner in software development who has a deep understanding of this technology. This will allow you to protect your code using this technology.
Conclusion
Contact Errna if you need more information about using blockchain domain procedures for securing client code, or if you are looking to hire a developer or dev team that can help you create a blockchain architecture solution.
Every company is different and faces its own particular problems and difficulties. This means that any business’s needs for blockchain technology will be very different from those of any other business. Our blockchain consulting specialists are well-versed in this.
Anyone and everyone can use blockchain technology. Adopting it doesn’t have to make you feel intimidated. We’re here to make things easier for you. They will take the time to carefully consider your company’s demands before making a suggestion to you about a suitable solution that can significantly advance your company’s goals. Investigate blockchain technology for your company right away.
Blockchain is a fascinating, potent technology that has the ability to completely change how organizations are run and how business activities are completed. At Errna, we are skilled at empowering your company with the advantages of this ground-breaking technology. Our blockchain technology specialists will create for you customized blockchain-based apps that best meet the complexity and requirements of your company.