The computer hack of Yahoo that affected about a half billion users, again stoked the question of how to best protect what seems to be our vulnerable personal information. A George Mason University professor said the answer might be blockchain, the security application that underlines Bitcoin.
“A lot of companies, banks, are investing big-time in blockchain,” said Kumar Mehta, program director of George Mason’s Cybersecurity Program, ranked by several publications as one of the nation’s best. “R3, a consortium of more than 60 large global financial institutions was purposely created by the banking industry to develop commercial applications using blockchain technologies.”
Put simply, a blockchain is a decentralized public system using multiple computers to validate transactions. That eliminates the need for a central authority, which can be more easily compromised, he explained.
The problem in making blockchain technology immediately mainstream, Mehta said, is one of trust (using public systems for validations), scale (especially for large corporations that generate an enormous amount of transactions), and working out legal and regulatory protocols.
In a sense it is a race against time.
“The cyber threat facing our nation—both government and the private sector is growing significantly,” said Jamil N. Jaffer, director of Mason’s Homeland and National Security Law Program. “In particular, a troubling trend is the increasing use of destructive attacks, attacks that go beyond simple theft or data disclosure and result in actual destruction of data or system functionality.”
Kumar Mehta, director of Mason’s Cybersecurity Program, has a PhD in management information systems from the University of Illinois-Chicago. He can be reached at 703-993-9412 or kmehta1@gmu.edu.
Jamil N. Jaffer, director of Mason’s Homeland and National Security Law Program in the Antonin Scalia Law School, has a law degree from the University of Chicago and served as chief counsel and senior advisor for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. He can be reached at 703-993-5620 or jjaffer@gmu.edu.
Massimiliano Albanese is associate director of Mason’s Center for Secure Information Systems. He can be reached at 703-993-1629 or malbanes@gmu.edu.
If you need further assistance, contact Buzz McClain at 703-993-0230 or bmclai2@gmu.edu or Damian Cristodero at 703-993-9118 or dcristod@gmu.edu.
About George Mason University
George Mason University is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 34,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason is one of 115 elite institutions conducting research at the highest level as determined by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Mason faculty members have been recognized with some of the most prestigious awards in the world, including the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences twice. Mason is one of the best values in higher education, producing graduates who lead all Virginia schools with the highest annual salaries.