Only after this collective verification can a new block containing the transaction be added to the end of the blockchain. When a new transaction occurs between two parties in the network, it is broadcasted network-wide and the network’s community of miners examines and verifies it. No global repository stores this public ledger, that is, a blockchain is completely distributed.

Each network node maintains an identical copy of the blockchain. Unlike this centralized approach, a blockchain registers and stores transactions in a peer-to-peer network.

The integrity of the data, to a large extent, depend on the data management capability and functionality of the repository. With the traditional data-management infrastructure, transactions between a party (e.g., an individual or organization) and others often are recorded and stored in data repositories maintained and controlled by the particular party or by central authorities (e.g., government agencies, banks). Section 6 recommends anti-attack measures and the last section calls for new research on how blockchains can fight online malicious attacks. Sections 4 and 5 explore the types of frauds and attacks that blockchain technology might prevent and behaviors to which it remains vulnerable. Section 3 reviews state-of-the-art technologies for detecting online fraud and intrusion.

Section 2 defines the characteristics and innovative applications of blockchain technology. This paper answers the question of what can blockchain technology do and not do to fight malicious online activity. Many advocates believe that it can completely prevent such malicious activities as double-spending and hacking (Baxter 2016 Camp 2016). Many believe that blockchain, similar to the Internet, will revolutionize how people and organizations will manage transactions and assets (Swan 2015).īlockchain technology enforces a distributed consensus and cryptographic transactions, rendering it difficult to compromise the integrity of its records without being noticed by an entire network. 2015) and its legal, social, and economic impacts have been inadequately studied (Mainelli and Smith 2015), blockchain technology is acknowledged for its advantages in recording transactions and events. Although bitcoin is a controversial form of digital currency facing skepticism and distrust (Hur et al. Blockchain, an innovation by FinTech, has attracted considerable attention since its origin as a technology to enable bitcoin-based online transactions (Pilkington 2016 Sundararajan 2016).

Can blockchain be hacked