Cryptocurrency & Classic Money
Will We Move on from Cryptocurrencies? Security Has the Final Verdict
The militant supporters of centralized payment systems have a hard time understanding how cryptocurrencies, in particular, cryptography, work. This opens the door for a foray of duplicitous opinions and speculations on the topic. It’s crucially important to set the record straight once and for all, as the technology is gradually making its way up into the higher levels of government and society. Once the blockchain becomes the regulatory mechanism for voting people will start raising even more concerns directed at its security properties. Cryptography is a vital constituent in the bigger picture called cryptocurrency. Understanding how it works is the key to making sense of it all.
What is the CryptoCurrency Security Standard (CCSS)?
Let’s take a step back and ask the question “what’s the weakest spot in the blockchain?”. By this I mean, the pressure point with the highest likelihood of being attacked. As you may know, the use of private keys is deeply embedded in every cryptocurrency. That is to say authentication on any given transaction depends on them. In the light of this looming threat, that one’s private key could be exposed, the CCSS was designed. The standard propounds a triple-folded security architecture. That makes three levels of accretive security controls – 19, 28 and 33 respectively. To put this into simple words – any system that can’t withstand a high-tier cryptocurrency attack can’t even meet the CCSS level 1 requirements. Meanwhile, a cryptocurrency architecture fully compliant with the level 2 model, shouldn’t, in theory, suffer any monetary losses even if it were to be hacked. You can see how the standard can trammel up the otherwise severe consequences of cyber-attacks.
the Use of Cryptography in Cryptocurrencies – How Does it Work?
As I already mentioned, ensuring the concealment of your private key is at the top of developer’s agenda. To this end they use what’s called “public key cryptography”. This sophisticated procedure includes both the public and private key of a given user. They are encrypted and formulated into one single sequence of characters, usually about 30 symbols long. Albeit a seemingly randomly constructed unit, this string is still a functional unit. In it, the public key pinpoints the user’s public address, while the private key decodes the private key. In other words, the two are deeply intertwined, so that no fraud beneficiaries can take hold of your funds unless they obtain your private key first. Moreover, everyone is free to send funds to any given public address, while only its owner has access to the money therein.
We can then say the blockchain infrastructure delivered on the pledge for a more private and at the same time transparent payment system. The shift in emphasis nowadays has to do more with speed rather than security, but in both aspects, I think we are in line for a positive change.