Verizon Boosts Security Portfolio With Blockchain Technology

American telecoms giant Verizon Wireless incorporates new blockchain-backed security features.

Verizon Business has announced the inclusion of new security services, including two new administration and identity access systems using blockchain-based technology.

These are Verizon Identity (VID) and Verizon Machine State Integrity, which are modeled within a Blockchain environment, according to the US technology firm on March 5th. 

In the case of VID, identity information is encrypted and subsequently distributed through multiple servers in the blockchain, so there would not be a centralized base that can be attacked by cybercriminals. 

According to the company, Verizon ID will allow users to store their access credentials in a “secure digital environment” on their mobile phones, which can be accessed and validated more easily.

A solution to an old issue

A Verizon study entitled “Verizon’s 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report,” showed that 29 percent of the breaches investigated involved the use of stolen credentials.

On the other hand, the Verizon Machine State Integrity will obtain operational data from fully decentralized environments, to offer a broader picture of potential security issues.

The system continually monitors a structure of machines composed of servers, routers, gateways, among others, to create a verifiable chain of events based on the state of the machine, instead of just logs.

Alex Schlager, Executive Director and Chief Product Officer of security services at Verizon Business, gave his opinion:

“Cybercrime is a daily threat to every organization and government across the globe. Our 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report highlighted that financially motivated cyberattacks are increasing across the board, and that C-level executives are increasingly and proactively targeted by social breaches, linked to (for example) stolen credentials. [...] These Verizon solutions offer a significant step forward in cybersecurity protection.”

In this case, the mechanism relies on hash technology to leave a small footprint.

Services availability date

Verizon has specified that the VID is available to users globally. Meanwhile, the Verizon Machine State Integrity will be available to US users from the second quarter of 2020.