It’s time to switch to blockchain technology for your email system

Baozou Shiguan : In the information age, personal information is more open and transparent, and personal information security is constantly challenged. How to protect personal information and prevent hacker attacks has become an important issue of this era. Yahoo and other email service providers were once popular, but with the continuous development of Internet technology, network security has also been constantly challenged by more high-tech challenges. To this end, it has become a top priority to improve the underlying technical architecture of email services, and the highly subversive blockchain technology will be able to fundamentally eliminate these hidden dangers.

Translation: Annie Xu

Running an email system on the Bitcoin blockchain has become a top priority because current email services are too complex and insecure. In fact, the technology used by email service providers is outdated and cannot withstand the ever-increasing hacking techniques.

Yahoo has suffered the largest data breach in history and has begun urging users to change their passwords. However, this does not solve the actual problem at all. In particular, experts warn that frequent password changes may have the opposite effect.

Improving the email system while protecting user account data requires major technological changes.

Fortunately, there are already several startups that are beginning to do just that, reinventing the email system using Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.

For example, John McAfee Swiftmail is an email system based on the Bitcoin blockchain, which uses 256-byte end-to-end encryption technology to protect Swiftmail data and prevent data interception.

The company website shows:

"John McAfee Swiftmail is a decentralized peer-to-peer, proof-of-work, encrypted email system that uses the Bitcoin blockchain instead of email. The Swiftmail wallet looks like this: ab99b776de244fe0f70f229921517829."

Cryptamail is another decentralized email system that runs on the blockchain. Because the blockchain can record information, "the information storage is not controlled by a single central point, so private data cannot be stolen or even message requests can be sent."

The most notorious data breaches of all time

The existing email system is no longer secure. Yahoo recently revealed that it had been hit by the largest hacker attack in history, affecting more than one billion accounts. Hackers stole important personal data of Yahoo users. The most troublesome thing is that the stolen information includes encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers.

Yahoo reported that the attack took place in August 2013, but it was not announced until December 14, 2016. Computer forensics experts are investigating the metadata leak.

Bob Lord

Yahoo Chief Information Security Officer Bob Lord said, "We have not been able to confirm the attack related to this data breach. We believe this incident is different from the incident announced on September 22, 2016."

"Based on the current investigation, we believe that an unauthorized third party has obtained our professional code and mastered the method of forging web browsing records."

In September, Yahoo announced another hack in which 500 million user accounts were stolen in 2014.

Yahoo believes the two incidents are related to "the same state-sponsored hacker."

State-sponsored hacking and geopolitical influence

Almost every day there is news of data breaches, which have affected email service providers, businesses, government agencies, and political institutions. The impact of these incidents can be far-reaching.

For example, the recent hack of the Democratic National Committee, which allegedly reversed the results of the 2016 presidential election, was believed by many to be the work of government-sponsored hackers.

In fact, NBC News reported that “senior U.S. intelligence officials are convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself was involved in Russia’s interference in the U.S. presidential election.”

Cyber ​​attacks have existed for a long time, but now the frequency, scope and impact of malicious attacks such as email attacks have greatly increased. Therefore, it is imperative to carry out technological innovation and develop more secure email technology, such as using the security of the Bitcoin blockchain.