Natalia Karayaneva, CEO of global real estate provider Propy, has suggested in a Forbes article that the solution to malicious ransomware attacks, such as those currently underway in the American city of Baltimore, can be found by implementing blockchain technology.
Various city government offices have been targeted by hackers resulting in widespread suspension of services seeing property deals in the region significantly delayed with correspondence, administration and transactions being forced to revert to manual procedures.
Old, Expensive and Vulnerable
Writing for Forbes magazine, Karayaneva explains that many counties within the U.S. are operating old, expensive and vulnerable systems which lack the ability to “…record revisions [and] timestamps” so “hacks are particularly tough to prove. With hacking strategies becoming more advanced by the day, governments need to act quickly with combative technologies of their own before it is too late.”
Karayaneva stresses though that the U.S.A. is not alone in having inadequate data systems and cites last years Bulgaria Registry Agency shutdown as an international example. Attention is also drawn to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) who are supporting the use of blockchain-based land registry initiatives around the world.
Acknowledging that governments may need guidance with the application of blockchain solutions as “…there are a number of networks with vulnerable consensus mechanisms and private networks with human controls,” Karayaneva focuses on the benefits of a considered approach and quotes a recent study by ResearchGate that the technology provides “…the potential to save 70% or more on business operations and around 30-50% on compliance.”
Such prudent investment and on-going savings would certainly be welcomed by citizens within the Baltimore area for as the BBC recently reported “There have been repeated warnings here about severe underinvestment in government IT infrastructure.”
