Blockchain and Cybersecurity: Hype or Real Protection? - Ep 137

In this episode of Reimagining Cyber,  new co-host Tyler Moffitt talks about the intersection of blockchain technology and cybersecurity. He discusses the basics of blockchain, its differences from traditional databases, real-world applications, the current rate of adoption, and the challenges it faces. Tyler also shares his personal journey into the world of blockchain and his passion for the technology. The episode concludes with a discussion on the future of blockchain in cybersecurity and a fascinating tale about lost Bitcoin worth millions.

Links mentions in the episode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_buried_in_Newport_landfill

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Producer Ben: Hello and welcome to Reimagining Cyber. I'm Ben, producer of the show, but this week I'm going to be asking the questions and the person in the hot seat is our new co host, Tyler Moffitt. Tyler, how you doing? Doing well, thanks for having me on. Our other host, Rob Arago, can't be with us today, but Tyler, before we go any further, last week, you and Rob were talking all things Super Bowl, you were making your predictions.

[00:00:31] So, what did you make of the game? It wasn't what you call super exciting, was it? 

[00:00:36] Tyler Moffitt: No, but it was super glad not to see Kansas City three peat. Um, and I think I speak for everyone. Ha ha ha ha ha! Everyone apart from people in Kansas. Yeah, well, you want, you don't want anybody else's team to three peat except your own team.

[00:00:49] That's just how it is, and it's probably how it'll always be, and this may, I'm just glad because it means probably for the rest of my life that no one else will be able to do this three peat, you know, knock on wood. So while I am happy with the results, I didn't really win any bets at all. I had Kansas City winning, or I had Saquon Barkley winning it for the Eagles, and none of those people really did anything.

[00:01:10] So, while I am happy with the result of the Eagles winning, I didn't win any of my bets. And, uh, I just had a good time. 

[00:01:17] Producer Ben: Well, that's the part of the show reserved for sports fans taking care of. Let's get into the real meat in the sandwich, and that is, of course, cyber security. The title of this episode is Blockchain and Cyber Security Hype or Real Protection?

[00:01:32] So, first of all, Tyler, let's start with the basics of blockchain. What is it, and why is it so secure? So, yeah, 

[00:01:39] Tyler Moffitt: that's a great question. A lot of people, big hype in blockchain right now. Um, you know, it's considered a bull run year. But basically, blockchain, the original descending from Bitcoin, uh, it's a decentralized, tamper resistant digital ledger.

[00:01:54] Alright, so unlike traditional databases, which store data on a single location. Um, blockchain distributes information across a network. Uh, each transaction is recorded as a block. They happen every ten minutes, and they're linked to the previous ones, creating an immutable chain, if that makes sense. And the security comes from the cryptographic hashing, and the decentralization, and the consensus.

[00:02:20] mechanism, um, which is proof of work, um, like mining the miners or proof of stake, which is ethereum is famous for. Um, but that answers that and I can go into any further detail. Let me know. So 

[00:02:32] Producer Ben: how would you say it differs from traditional databases then? 

[00:02:36] Tyler Moffitt: Traditional databases like SQL or NoSQL, they operate on a centralized model.

[00:02:42] Where data is stored on a single repository or in a cloud based system. This creates vulnerabilities such as SQL injection attacks, insider threats, you know, single points of failure, right? If a hacker breaches the central server or the cloud, they can access all of that data. You know, with blockchain, there's no single point of failure.

[00:03:01] Instead, the data is distributed across multiple notes and transactions must be verified by consensus, making it. Basically impossible for a hacker to alter records without controlling the majority of the network, which is basically Completely and financially prohibitive to give you an example of how it's the most hack resistant database technology We've had to date if you wanted to hack Bitcoin And, with the transaction, let's say you're sending me two bitcoins, you're sending from your address to my address, and a hacker wanted to be like, Nope, you sent it from your address to the hacker's address, right?

[00:03:35] In order to do that, he would need to hack 51 percent of all miners in real time. It's just, it's really, when I say not possible, it's just, it's totally unfeasible. It's, it's never going to happen, and we've never had anything this secure ever before.

[00:03:54] Producer Ben: What are the real world applications in of blockchain?

[00:03:58] Tyler Moffitt: It's a good question. You know, you don't want to talk about how it's going to improve security in different industries. Um, so I'd say, you know, the security and integrity of several key areas. Financial security, obviously a big one. That's where it's starting. Banks and financial institutions will use blockchain to prevent fraud and secure transactions with smart contracts.

[00:04:18] We're already seeing that. Um, decentralized finance is On ethereum or you know, Bitcoin and all these other coins that are coming out Um has already progressed over the past, you know Like eight years or so and doing quite well and securing billions and billions of dollars that will only grow Um, next big one that everyone's talked about for the longest time is voting systems Obviously, we're not there and that hasn't happened but The blockchain can create transparent, tamper proof election systems, ensuring voter integrity.

[00:04:46] I'm sure everybody, you know, wants to make sure that they're confident in, in the election systems that we trust. And then also supply chain security. Uh, companies can track goods with an immutable ledger to prevent counterfeiting and fraud. And I also know like when it comes down to transporting goods that require, let's say in pharmaceutical, uh, temperature controlled environments, you can sort of give it a, a little bit that would.

[00:05:09] Check in on the actual blockchain network and register its temperature every 10 minutes, if that makes sense. And it can't be changed or hacked, if that makes sense, which people have questioned before through the supply chain of, you know, really important materials as they go through their delivery system.

[00:05:26] And then, of course, the next one would be healthcare and personal data protection. This is a big one. Patient records, sensitive identity data, You know, it can be stored securely and access controlled with blockchain. Uh, and the fact that it's secured there means that, you know, it can't be stolen if, you know, whoever's holding the data is doing it insecurely, which we have already seen mountains and mountains of.

[00:05:48] It's only been growing in the past few years, as far as attacks on hospitals and subsequent, you know, customers and patients and their data getting out there. So that's definitely a big one people are wondering about. 

[00:05:58] Producer Ben: Regarding all these applications, how quickly is blockchain being, uh, taken up at the moment.

[00:06:04] Tyler Moffitt: Yeah, so it, it does all sound great and promising, but there are limitations. I don't mean to say it's gonna happen lightning quick or anything, right? Because there are, there are challenges, uh, preventing widespread blockchain adoption. Uh, I would say some of the hurdles are scalability issues. So high transaction volumes, which is, you know, The more you do, the more transactions can slow down the networks.

[00:06:25] And they're working on that. Don't get me wrong. Uh, energy consumption. That's the biggest one that most people probably chirp up about is the proof of work blockchains like Bitcoin with the mining, mining, they require massive amounts of energy and resources. Um, so we definitely need to have, you know, reliable energy, um, regulatory and compliance challenges are probably the biggest for any new blockchain.

[00:06:45] Groundbreaking disruptive paradigm shift technology to, to come into the forefront is regulatory and compliance, right? The government's got to figure out how to regulate it and implement it. And then cost and integration. How complex is it? Right. Integrating blockchain security solutions can be expensive and difficult, uh, with training and understanding and all that stuff has to be accounted for.

[00:07:08] Producer Ben: Before we have the conversation today, we kind of have a free conversation chat about bits and pieces. And you said that this is something that you are really, really passionate about. Um, why is that in particular? When did you first start getting interested in blockchain? What was it that triggered your interest?

[00:07:30] Tyler Moffitt: So, I was building a new computer. Probably like 2015, 2016. And I was buying computer parts, and I saw people who bought this graphics card. I think it was like, some, eh, it doesn't matter. AMD 480 or something. And they were buying something called a USB riser. And It didn't make any sense, because I was like, you're not going to get the viability of the graphics compute on the graphics card.

[00:07:57] Why are people buying this in such large numbers? It was on Newegg. And then I basically went down a rabbit hole and saw people were building mining rigs, and they weren't using it for its graphics capability of rendering on a screen, they were just using it for its compute for hashing. And then I started to see people were mining Ethereum, and so I ended up building a rig.

[00:08:16] And started mining, if that makes sense, because I didn't trust it at first. I saw that people were doing it with Bitcoin I knew about it from my experience in threat research and criminals and Bitcoin. I knew about Silk Road and all that stuff, and I've known about Bitcoin for a while, but it was just, you know, magic internet money.

[00:08:32] What is this? I'm not gonna throw my actual hard currency into something like this. So, of course, I bought a whole bunch of graphics cards and built mining rigs because I was like, This has to be real, right? And then as I was mining these rewards and, and getting it and securing the network and then being able to sell it for money, I was like, Wow, this is real.

[00:08:49] I'm making, you know, a decent amount of money here. And, oh my God, did I make so many mistakes in selling some of those at those times? But it, it really opened my eyes to the importance of it and how, like, I learned about the security of the network, like, the fact that you'd have to hack 51 percent of, of the, the hash rate in real time to do any, any double spend, or 51 percent attack.

[00:09:12] The fact that you could literally nuke all of humanity, and we still have nodes running on satellites in space that would work for, I don't know, aliens or whoever's left. Um, it's, it's crazy, so. And from there, it's only grown, you know, I've only gotten further into it, researched it further, seen the financial, uh, situation with our financial institutions and fractional reserve banking, and if you've ever watched the big short, where they talk about the 2008 financial crash, all that stuff's still going, they're still doing it, they've not stopped any of it, and so why would it, why would we not expect that to happen again, so everything sort of just came together to make me, you know, really passionate and focused in this, if that makes sense.

[00:09:51] Producer Ben: That's a terrific film. Steve Carell, isn't it? 

[00:09:54] Tyler Moffitt: Yes. Yeah. 

[00:09:55] Producer Ben: Oh man, they managed to make that into a thriller. I thought it was absolutely fascinating. A wonderful film. Anyway, don't want to go off on that tangent. So let's look into, uh, the reimagining cyber crystal ball, which I always have hanging around in the studio.

[00:10:09] Um, I don't know. Five years time, what do you think the situation will be like? 

[00:10:15] Tyler Moffitt: Well, it's a good question. It does have to mature. We have to see more faith and trust in the system and defy decentralized finances already, already doing that and doing great. And it needs mobile bull runs under its belt, but I think we're going to see a hybrid approach.

[00:10:29] So blockchain is not a one size fits all solution to everything. All right. It's highly effective in scenarios. Data integrity, transparency, and decentralized security. Um, future innovations like X and hybrid blockchain cloud models will likely bridge the current gaps and make adoption easier. Um, but we've got a long way to go, but I'm excited to see what comes up.

[00:10:51] Every single bull run, which is every four years because of Bitcoin and the reward system off of it called the halvening, We see new coins come out solving different problems on their blockchain, and it only grows, and it's only going to get better, and we're only going to see more adoption. 

[00:11:06] Producer Ben: Tyler then, what would be your, your final thoughts on the subject of blockchain and cyber security?

[00:11:11] Tyler Moffitt: Yeah, so my advice for people out there, um, Whether yourself or your institution, business are looking into getting into blockchain, uh, I would say understand your security needs before jumping into blockchain. If your application requires, you know, high integrity, transparency, and tamper proof data storage, uh, blockchain could be a great fit.

[00:11:31] But right now with the You know, scalability and things they're working on. It's not always the best solution for speed and cost efficiency. But you should definitely check it out just yourself and learn more about it because you're only going to hear more about it. A lot of people always think with these giant pumps and dumps in price that they're never going to hear about it once Bitcoin crashes and, you know, loses 50 60 percent of its value.

[00:11:50] But then, you know, 2 3 years later, it's already Surpassed that amount in price. Everybody's talking about it again, and they're tired of hearing about it. And I'm telling you right now, you're gonna be hearing about it for probably the rest of your life. So, you should, you should get into it and do some research.

[00:12:04] Producer Ben: Finally then, here's a tale that is linked to all things blockchain. that I think, Tyler, you're going to find interesting. I'm based over here in the UK and there's been this long running news story about a chap who accidentally threw away the hard drive that allows him access to his Bitcoin. So he thinks that it's underneath years and years of garbage at a landfill site near where he lives.

[00:12:30] The reason that this is such a big deal is that it holds the key to about $800 million worth of Bitcoin. He's been through the courts trying to get access to the tip, and he's been denied, and it's got to the point where he's trying to get some investment partners to buy the landfill site. So, Tyler, what are your thoughts?

[00:12:53] That is a lot 

[00:12:55] Tyler Moffitt: of effort, for sure, um, but I can understand it because of its eventual worth and what's gonna happen as Bitcoin, you know, is over around 100k right now, and those of you listening five years from now, I'm sure it'll be, you know, 4x that, um, but you have to realize, Bitcoin is a finite currency, there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin ever, it's never gonna change, and 20 million have already been mined, So when Bitcoin first came out in like 2009, when the first block was mined, everybody was getting 50 Bitcoins every 10 minutes.

[00:13:26] Uh, that was what was released into circulation, and now it's like 3. 125 Bitcoin. And we're about to go into another halvening, uh, and it'll be only like 1. 625 Bitcoin every 10 minutes. And so, the vast majority, really early, Like, it was worth nothing. You know, it was worth, like, not even a penny. There were websites out there, like Bitcoin Fountains, where just by visiting and clicking on a button, and giving it an address, it would give you a free Bitcoin just for visiting the website.

[00:13:55] Um, now obviously this was, you know, 15 years ago, but, Things have changed, and people, it's worth way more than it ever was back then, and people threw away computers and hard drives that are worth, yeah, tens or hundreds of millions, and, but, potentially, as time goes on, this story you have will be worth billions, and that's how it is, they actually estimate that, uh, between 30 and 40 percent of all the bitcoins mined already, so 20 to 30 percent of That 20 million Bitcoin is lost forever in people who just didn't know what they were doing, sent coins to the wrong address, threw away the computer that had some coins on it that they didn't care about because it was only worth a few pennies at the time, but now are worth, you know, hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

[00:14:40] Um, so these are, like, Yeah, those stories are so many. There's a dime a dozen of everybody who's lost essentially fortunes Because they it wasn't fortunes when they didn't care about it And now they do and so i'm excited to see where that goes because every year they bring on this guy who bought two Papa John's large pizzas when he paid 10, 000 Bitcoin, which is like, you know, what a billion dollars now or over a billion They bring them on every four years.

[00:15:08] Hey, you spent a hundred million. Hey, you spent a billion And what's it? When's it gonna be ten billion dollars for two pizzas? But yeah, it's always interesting and fun to see every time you know, these stories come up 

[00:15:19] Producer Ben: Terrific. Great stuff. And I'll make sure I put a link here to the story about the landfill site and the hard drive in the show notes.

[00:15:26] It will certainly make you raise an eyebrow. Tyler, thank you so much for joining me on Reimagining Cyber. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. And thanks to you for listening to the show. We will, as usual, return next Wednesday. And if you want to make sure the episode is available to you as soon as it drops, then remember to follow or subscribe.

[00:15:45] Goodbye.