Forcepoint, a cybersecurity solution provider has recently own a patent for their proposed blockchain cybersecurity solution. United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently awarded them this patent.
The patented solution assumed importance in view of the confluence of cybersecurity, big data, and blockchain. The proposed solution addresses the evolving adaptive cybersecurity space.
Cybersecurity is a large industry, and it’s growing noticeably. The global cybersecurity market will likely reach $248.26 billion by 2023, as this Statista report projects.
Cybersecurity, by its very nature, is a highly dynamic field in the overall technology landscape. Cybercriminals are always coming up with new ways to launch cyber attacks, therefore, cybersecurity must keep pace.
Adaptive security is a key branch within the overall body of cybersecurity knowledge, practices, and technologies. More than any particular technology or tool, adaptive security is a model, involving continuous monitoring of threats.
This model involves a continuous study of user behaviours, patterns of online activities, etc. Adaptive security involves building a large database containing these observation results and subsequently developing insights into newer cybersecurity threats.
The key here is to manage the humongous volume of data and secure it. If the data is corrupted, no meaningful insights will emerge even if one runs powerful analytics products on it. Worse still, analytics based on flawed data sets might drive the cybersecurity researchers into wrong directions!
This is where blockchain cybersecurity solutions could play a part.
Using blockchain to secure data for adaptive security
Forcepoint is a cybersecurity company based out of Texas, USA, and it’s partly owned by Raytheon, a US defence contractor. Vista Equity Partner, a private equity firm owns the other part of Forcepoint.
The proposed solution from Forcepoint involves a user behavior monitoring a management system. Observing user interactions online, storing these observations, and drawing patterns from the data are the key components of the proposed system.
Forcepoint plans to use blockchain to store user behaviour profile information. Blockchain uses decentralization, digital signature, cryptographic hash functions, and consensus algorithm to protect data.
The proposed solution from Forcepoint will secure the large volume of user behaviour monitoring data using blockchain. Maintaining time-stamp of the data will help in managing the audit trail. Forepoint plans to use their analytics suite subsequently, to draw patterns from this data.
This is not the first patent concerning security and blockchain. IBM plans to patent a blockchain solution dealing with network security. However, Forcepoint is bringing blockchain into the play in the field of adaptive security, which is interesting.
Blockchain to guard against cyber criminals?
The evolving technology of cybersecurity must responsibly utilize the ocean of data concerning online user interaction. Responsible use of this data must involve security measures, and blockchain could finally help cybersecurity providers here, in staying ahead of cybercriminals.
