How Secure Is Blockchain?

Weighing in the tech’s weak linksBlockchain’s silent tornado effect has disrupted not quite a few industries immovably niched for centuries. Sure, the driving force behind a number of coined words such as Bitcoin, DeFi, FinTech, to name a few, signaled the fusion of timeless principles with modern innovations that were only dreamt before. Benefitting first and foremost with this seismic shift in mindsets, processes, and mechanisms was the global financial system whereupon lies the lifeblood of each of nations’ economies.Blockchain ItselfThe invention of blockchain redefines the many ways transactions are conducted, values are stored, sums of money are exchanged, and currencies are created. Simply put, a blockchain is an Internet-based digital ledger that employs chained cryptographic blocks storing an immutable record of verified transactions occurring within the blockchain infrastructure. As Bitcoin was the first successful use case for a cryptocurrency that triggered an avalanche of thousands more, blockchain technology is vastly exploited in smart contracts as it is eagerly explored in the storage of personal medical records, real estate, voting system, supply chain, eCommerce, gaming, NFTs, government, and other data storage purposes.Foundational CharactersComplicated as the technology is, what makes the revolutionary blockchain an assuring architecture for the secure storage of sensitive data stands on three foundations: Cryptography, Consensus, and Decentralization.CryptographyTransactions on the blockchain are secured by cryptography as every transaction is digitally signed and sealed with a private key and its pair public key to verify it further. It is called hashing. Any data tampering can invalidate the signature and the block is rejected by the blockchain.Cryptography’s mathematically complex algorithms effectively ward off hacks and attacks that constantly test the vulnerability of any blockchain network. A unique cryptographic hash conceals the identity of the data like a password. A hash contains characters from the transaction data and the hash of…