• Reference on what happened at Equifax
• Digital identity tokens
• Obstacles to national ID
• Blockchain for securing personal identity
• Upcoming events / discount codes

The Equifax data breach is another wake-up call regarding the security of personal information. Perhaps it will add impetus to the idea of enhancing ways for individuals to safeguard their personal information that is stored by institutions. Maybe some of the ideas for using blockchain technology will be helpful.

SC Magazine published an article detailing what is thought to have occurred in the Equifax breach: “Apache Struts vulnerability likely behind Equifax breach, Congress launches probes.” (https://www.scmagazine.com/apache-struts-vulnerability-likely-behind-equifax-breach-congress-launches-probes/article/687955/) The author notes,

“The incident could also ‘have wide-reaching implications for how Americans identify themselves in the future, such as when applying for banking and credit services – simply knowing a name, date of birth, address and Social Security number shouldn’t ever be enough,’ says [Alex] Smith. ‘This breach could finally be the security wakeup call the US needs to widely adopt digital identity tokens, and potentially a digital national identity scheme similar to other countries such as Belgium.’” [see “The Belgian Electronic Identity Card (Overview)” https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/publications/article-769.pdf]

There are two reasons why a national digital identity scheme may be a long time coming in the US. First, it would run into conflicts with our having 50 states and other jurisdictions like the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam, each issuing identity credentials, such as driver’s licenses. Second, we have a history of shunning national identification (paradoxically for fear of privacy concerns), as evidenced by Congress specifically saying that no federal funds shall be spent on a national health identification number (see PUBLIC LAW 105–277—OCT. 21, 1998, “None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to promulgate or adopt any final standard under section 1173(b) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320d–2(b)) providing for, or providing for the assignment of, a unique health identifier for an individual (except in an individual’s capacity as an employer or a health care provider), until legislation is enacted specifically approving the standard.”).

Given these national obstacles to updating how identity is managed in the US, it seems we may have to rely on the marketplace to come up with solutions, instead of waiting for government to take the lead. I expect we’ll see some Congressional hearings as a result of the Equifax breach, but probably no meaningful legislation.

One possibility for marketplace activity is for institutions that rely on identity, such as banks, insurers, and so on, to adopt blockchain technology. Earlier this year, there was an article in Forbes on this: “How The Blockchain Will Secure Your Online Identity” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanchester/2017/03/03/how-the-blockchain-will-secure-your-online-identity/#e9d4bda55234).

I can imagine organizations making it a selling point to be able to provide customers with apps that allow them to control who and when their information can be accessed.

The idea is not new. It is discussed in “How GDPR plus blockchain leads to the future of self-sovereign identity” (http://www.janrain.com/how-gdpr-plus-blockchain-leads-to-the-future-of-self-sovereign-identity/). This article references a 2015 paper that concludes, “Personal data, and sensitive data in general, should not be trusted in the hands of third-parties, where they are susceptible to attacks and misuse. Instead, users should own and control their data without compromising security or limiting companies’ and authorities’ ability to provide personalized services.” (“Decentralizing Privacy: Using Blockchain to Protect Personal Data” http://web.media.mit.edu/~guyzys/data/ZNP15.pdf)

[Update 9/15/17: “Equifax has confirmed that attackers entered its system in mid-May through a web-application vulnerability that had a patch available in March.” (https://www.wired.com/story/equifax-breach-no-excuse/) and “Equifax (EFX) says its chief information officer and chief security officer are leaving the company…” (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2-equifax-executives-exit-after-massive-data-breach/).

If you want to hear more on blockchain technology, here are a couple of opportunities:

• September 18-20, 2017: A half-day workshop by renowned blockchain author Melanie Swan, plus two other blockchain presentations, including mine on Blockchain and the Internet of Things,at the 38th IEEE Sarnoff Symposium at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ. See https://ewh.ieee.org/conf/sarnoff/2017/. For a 20% discount, email Deepak Kataria at dkinnovate77@gmail.com and mention David Snyder.
• October 23-24, 2017: Blockchain 360, InterContinental Times Square,
  New York City. See https://tmt.knect365.com/blockchain-360/
• November 28-30, 2017: Blockchain Expo / IoT Expo / AI Expo in Santa Clara, CA. See https://blockchain-expo.com/northamerica/. Register with promo code 42TEK20 for a 20% discount. Free Expo Pass also available. Email me at david@42tek.com if you want to connect there.

I am available for presentations and consulting on blockchain technology and data security: david@42tek.com.

Please take a look to see whether any of these items are of interest. Especially the upcoming meetings with discount codes.

You probably know of my interest in data security and digital health. Over the last year, I’ve also been working on ways to use blockchain technology in these areas and am available for consulting and presentations.

– Check out my earlier blog posting about data provenance, data quality, and data security for Internet-connected devices at https://42tek.com/2017/07/23/iot-data-provenance-quality-and-security/

– Last year, I conceived and produced a half-day Blockchain Symposium in Redwood City, CA. Since then, I’ve either moderated or presented at several other blockchain events. See https://42tek.com/meetingsreferences-html/

– September 19, 2017, I presented Blockchain and the Internet of Things at the 38th IEEE Sarnoff Symposium at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ. See https://ewh.ieee.org/conf/sarnoff/2017/. For a version of the slides, please request via the Contact Form on this web site.

–  October 1-4, 2017, I’ll be working at the Health 2.0 11^th Annual Fall Conference in Santa Clara, CA. See https://fall2017.health2con.com. Email me at david@42tek.com if you want to connect there.

–  November 28-30, 2017, I’ll be attending the Blockchain Expo / IoT Expo / AI Expo in Santa Clara, CA. See https://blockchain-expo.com/northamerica/. Register with promo code 42TEK20 for a 20% discount. Free Expo Pass also available. (details below) Email me at david@42tek.com if you want to connect there.

If we are not already connected on LinkedIn, please see http://www.linkedin.com/in/dmsnyder and send an invitation to connect.

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Blockchain Expo North America 2017 (co-located with IoT Tech Expo and AI Expo)

Santa Clara Convention Center 

November 28-30, 2017

See https://blockchain-expo.com/northamerica/

The world’s largest Blockchain conference and exhibition

Blockchain Expo will be arriving in the Santa Clara Convention Center on November 28-30 2017, bringing together 2000 people across key industries for three days of world-class content from leading brands embracing and developing cutting edge blockchain technologies.

Co-located with IoT Tech Expo and AI Expo which attract in excess of 7000 attendees, Blockchain Expo will showcase the latest developments in the Blockchain arena, in both emerging and more established markets.

The Blockchain for Industry conference track will look at a variety of platforms and services from startups to cloud providers, including developer networks, applications and APIs as well as the impact on legal, finance and government sectors with smart contracts.

Blockchain Technologies & Development will focus on the evolution of blockchain and its applications. The conference will explore the many launches and trials being conducted, the different uses of blockchain technology in these verticals, and the vast opportunities in these sectors.

>> 20% discount code valid for use with the Blockchain Expo, IoT Tech Expo and AI Expo: 42TEK20

I’ve long been concerned with the quality of data generated by field sampling and remote monitoring programs. First in environmental investigations — then in healthcare.

Internet-connected devices need to be designed to ensure that the data they provide is sufficiently reliable for its intended use, such as big data analytics.

“Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. In 2016, 5.5 million new things will get connected every day.” (http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3165317).

Many of these “Internet of Things” (IoT) devices contain sensors that will collectively generate petabytes of data and there has been much discussion of so-called “Big Data” analytics for managing and making sense of this data. Most of these big data discussions seem to assume that the data is good. The phrase “garbage in/garbage out” is fairly well known, but there does not seem to be much discussion of its importance for data analytics. Decisions based on poor data may yield the wrong results.

Key considerations to make sure that good data is used include the provenance of the data and its quality. That is, reliable knowledge about the source of the data (provenance) and an appropriate level of certainty about the timeliness and correctness of the data (quality). In this context, “correctness” means that the data is sufficiently accurate, precise, and specific. Correctness also means that the data is appropriate for its intended use.

Data users depend on an appropriate level of security for the data. This includes data at rest (in storage), data in motion (being transmitted), and data in use (being analyzed). Security is not just about confidentiality, but includes integrity (not corrupted or deleted), availability (able to be accessed when desired), and non-repudiation (once established, cannot be revoked or denied). Remote patient monitoring devices and environmental sensors are examples where high assurance regarding provenance, quality, and security can be important.

Until recently, more attention has been given to confidentiality than to integrity and availability. Thousands of articles have been written about preventing hackers from stealing information. Additionally, consciousness about security for Internet-connected devices has been raised due to the role of Internet-connected devices in recent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on web sites and Domain Names Services (DNS). While these are important issues to address, going forward, industry and government need to pay more attention to also ensuring these Internet-connected devices are producing high quality data and that the source of the data is adequately identified, so that consumers of such data can have confidence in what they are receiving.

Besides Internet-connected devices collecting and reporting data, other connected devices are used for executing actions, such as opening and closing valves. Some of these devices operate autonomously or semi-autonomously using data delivered via local, wide-area, or cloud networks to trigger actions. For example, local or remote sensors that trigger controls to shut down an overheating machine or shut it down when other conditions make it necessary.

Similar to remote data sensing devices, remotely-triggered devices need to have confidence regarding data provenance, quality, and security. In other words, confidence that information or commands are coming from an authorized and trusted source, that the information is correct, and that the system has not been compromised.

During the design, development, and implementation of IoT devices and associated structures, a systematic approach is needed to ensure that data provenance, quality, and security are adequately addressed. It is not sufficient to conduct security reviews after products have already been developed. Strategies and tactics are needed to (i) establish appropriate levels for provenance, quality, and security, (ii) ensure they are implemented and maintained, and then (iii) monitor compliance. Ideally, these will be expressed in a set of best practices for the design, manufacture, and implementation of Internet-connected devices.

Additional notes:

Blockchain technology, which is the underlying technology supporting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is starting to be used to address the issues of Provenance. Distributed ledgers built with blockchain technology provide a trusted, immutable, time-stamped record of transactions or assets.

Here are just a few examples:

• “Chronicled leverages blockchain and smart labels to create an open system of authenticity, ownership, provenance & connectivity for assets” and “We sign sensor data and log to blockchain to secure data provenance.” See http://chronicled.com
• “Health Linkages is the Data Provenance Company. We use blockchain and big data technologies to enable healthcare institutions to trust, protect, and share their data.” See http://healthlinkages.com
• “Maureen Downey and Everledger have joined forces to launch the Chai Wine Vault, an unprecedented solution for securing the authenticity and provenance of fine wine. See https://www.winefraud.com/chai-wine-vault/. Also, “Everledger provides an immutable ledger for diamond ownership and related transaction history verification for insurance companies, owners, claimants, and law enforcement agencies. It was founded on April 10, 2015, and is based in London, United Kingdom.” See https://www.everledger.io
• “Catenis Enterprise thwarts hacking attacks by always ensuring that every single communication sent to and from all devices uses cryptographic signature verification. This ensures that devices only accept commands and signals that are verified by military grade cryptography. Creating peace of mind for your security team and your company.” See http://blockchainofthings.com/downloads/CatenisDataSheet.pdf
• “The blockchain is becoming the new standard for trust and verification of data. Tierion turns the blockchain into a global platform for verifying any data, file, or process. Use Tierion’s API and tools to anchor a permanent, timestamped proof of your data in the blockchain.” See https://tierion.com

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See https://42tek.com/meetingsreferences-html/ for links to other presentations regarding blockchain technology.

Contact david@42tek.com to participate in discussions of best practices for IoT data provenance, quality, and security.

On July 13, 2017, I gave a presentation at the evening meeting of the Professional and Technical Consultants Association (PATCA) in Sunnyvale, California.  PATCA is Silicon Valley’s longest operating non-profit professional association dedicated to serving independent consultants and the client companies that use them. See https://patca.org/meetup/patca-evening-networking-discussion-meeting-30/.

The presentation explained how Blockchain technology works and how it is being adopted for a variety of IoT use cases. For example, distributed ledgers containing time-stamped, immutable records of device configurations and data generated by IoT devices. Also, enabling devices to interact and transact at the “edge” of the network, instead of in the “cloud.”

In June 2016, we produced an event with a stellar list of speakers and panelists on BLOCKCHAIN – IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT BITCOIN AND FINANCE: Opportunities for the Internet of Things, Healthcare, and More.  

We brought together technologists and business people to exchange ideas on what can be done with blockchain distributed ledger technology and when it is appropriate to use it.

For more information, contact info@42tek.com.