How Can Cloud Storage Deal With Security Issues?

How Can Cloud Storage Deal With Security Issues?

As detailed by Chris Pedigo of Lacework.com, 2019 saw some dark days for the cloud. While companies storing information in such data centers usually find that method cost-effective and efficient, the exceptions were notable, and troubling.

In April, 540 million Facebook records were exposed via Cultura Colectiva, a Mexican content provider. In May, Instagram saw 49 million records laid bare. July brought the Capital One breach, in which 80,000 bank account numbers (and 140,000 social security numbers) were exposed. And September saw the Autoclerk breach, where travel reservations were hacked, including those of military personnel involved with sensitive operations.

As a result, businesses are increasingly turning to blockchain to secure their cloud storage. An integral part of the larger trend toward Blockchain as a Service (BaaS), the distributed security makes this decentralized ledger far less vulnerable to hackers than the centralized servers preferred by most companies in the past.

The reasons have been well-documented. There are the cryptographic hashes unique to each block, which results in the chain’s immutability — i.e., none of the blocks can be modified without altering the whole chain. There is the peer-to-peer network, to which all data is distributed. Because it is not stored by any single entity but rather a node of users, the information within the chain cannot be changed by an outside actor. That ties into another security measure — the consensus protocol, under which all users need to verify a new block.

Finally, there is proof-of-work (PoW), the algorithm used to verify the transactions that lead to the creation of new blocks in the chain.

Again, such security is one of the great appeals of blockchain, and spending on the technology, which has tripled since 2017, is expected to reach $16 billion by 2023. Healthcare in particular is expected to reap the benefits of this technology, as blockchain spending in that sector is projected to reach $1.4 billion by 2024.

At present, however, healthcare lags behind financial services, manufacturing and energy and utilities in the industries that executives view as being most advanced in blockchain development, per a Business Insider survey. Forty-six percent of those polled believe that financial services have made the greatest strides in that area, compared to 12 percent for manufacturing, 12 percent for energy and utilities and 11 percent for healthcare. (Another eight percent view governmental use as being the most advanced.)

But it is expected that there will be precious few industries that won’t be impacted by this technology in the years to come. One report listed 58 possible areas in which blockchain can be applied, ranging from voting to ride-sharing to advertising.

The conclusion is a simple one: A decentralized storage system like blockchain can do for information what it has been doing for cryptocurrencies, keeping it safe and sound, and accessible only to those on the chain in question. The trend toward blockchain will only continue in the years ahead, and cut across all sectors.

3D Printers Are Helping to Solve Our Oceans’ Pollution Problem

3D Printers Are Helping to Solve Our Oceans’ Pollution Problem

Where water pollution is concerned, the statistics are staggering.

Each year, eight million tons of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans. There are estimated to be 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in those bodies of water, comprising between 60 and 90 percent of the pollution found there. By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.

Plastic kills marine animals — about 100 million of them perish each year from such waste — and it’s killing humans too. The chemicals contained in it, which are ingested by fish and in turn by humans, are known carcinogens. They also affect hormonal function. Not to be forgotten, either, is the fact that we depend on the oceans for drinking water and oxygen; if those bodies of water are compromised, so are we.

It will take various means, not to mention international cooperation, to solve a problem of such colossal proportions. But 3D printing may prove to be a part of the solution, especially since it attacks the problem from the standpoint of both sustainability and recycling.

Consider, for example, the 3D printer known as Ekocycle, which is made by 3D Systems, one of the leaders in the field. It is capable of extruding recycled bottles like those collected by various organizations (and various devices, such as the Ocean Cleanup Array, invented by Dutch teenager Boyan Slat). 

The machine, which is not yet available to the public, transforms those bottles into raw materials for new products.  

Also gaining traction, especially among manufacturers seeking greater cost-effectiveness, is the concept of sustainability through 3D printing. The Bio-Shelters Project aims to explore recycling in 3D printing using various alternative materials including wood, clay, sugar, cellulose fiber, recycled paper and concrete.

Team members of the Bio-Shelters Project are challenged to build seawalls out of sustainable materials. Both the United States and Europe have thousands of miles of natural coastlines in which about half have been modified with artificial structures including seawalls. These structures provide protection to shorelines and enhancement of fisheries. They also help with water filtering.

But the Bio-Shelters Project takes seawall building to a new, sustainable level. By taking into account the ecological conditions where the seawalls and bio-shelter attachments are to be installed, they can create the structures from materials that are uniquely appropriate for each location. Some of the materials added to a standard concrete mix included crushed oyster shells from Sydney vendors, vermiculite, crushed rock and sand. 

The end products from 3D printers for the project are silicone molds of 200 x 200 x 50 mm tiles, which are currently used in the ocean for testing. Researchers want to learn about the structural quality of materials underwater and how they affect marine life.

One of the key issues about 3D printers for ocean use centers around which recycled materials are most suitable for sustainability and performance. The old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” has renewed meaning in the age of sustainability, as scrap materials and other rejected materials have taken on huge recycling value.

The advent of the 3D printer will play an exciting and crucial role in cleaning up plastic pollution in oceans around the world. It may not be enough to eradicate the tons of plastic debris dumped into our oceans each year, but it is one small and meaningful step in the right direction.

Understanding Why Blockchain Transactions are Reliable

Understanding Why Blockchain Transactions are Reliable

Blockchain, once associated solely with the cryptocurrency bitcoin, has since been found to have many uses, with the potential for many more.

One of the foremost examples of digital ledger technology (DLT), blockchain can solidify supply chains and secure elections. It can make real estate transactions easier, and medical records more accessible. It can facilitate data transfers and ensure the smooth operation of the Internet of Things.

But why? What makes it so good, and why is there the expectation that it could do so much more? 

In a word, security. The folks at MIT spelled it out in layman’s terms, while using bitcoin, widely considered the first digital currency, as an example. All of bitcoin’s transactions are stored in the ledger, with multiple copies shared to a network of computers, or nodes. These nodes, which are operated by so-called miners, determine the validity of every new transaction. In the case of bitcoin, for instance, they check to see that each miner seeking to complete a transaction using that particular crypto does in fact have one to spend. Valid transactions are then added to the chain as blocks.

Every block has its own cryptographic fingerprint (called a hash), and every completed transaction does so courtesy of a unique process known as a consensus protocol — i.e., the agreement between all the other nodes. Both those elements should at least theoretically make such transactions tamperproof.

The MIT crew does raise questions about how secure the network really is, and provides examples of instances when hot wallets or smart contracts, two DLT staples, have been hacked. But generally blockchain, and DLT in general, has been well-received.

Consider the following examples:

  • Supply chain management: Using an online ledger removes documents, and thus inefficiency, from the equation. Consider the example of the shipment of flowers from Kenya to Rotterdam that required no fewer than 200 documents to complete. That’s a thing of the past with blockchain.
  • Secure elections: It could potentially reduce fraud or, for that matter, the need to so much as travel to a polling place. In 2016 West Virginia became the first state to use DLT-based technology in a primary, a possible sign of things to come.
  • Real estate transactions: With supply chains, there’s no need for hard copies anymore. All of that now exists in the blockchain network, and all parties have secure access. This is true for real estate transactions, and all manner of other transactions
  • Medical records: Electronic medical records (EMRs) are already widely used, but those stored in a blockchain would ensure the patient easier access and greater privacy, the latter of which is essential under HIPAA requirements.
  • Data transfers: The cryptocurrency IOTA, believing most corporate data goes unused, has developed a DLT-based data marketplace that would allow companies to sell or share data, the idea being that it would spark innovation.
  • IoT management: The world of interconnected devices — smart thermostats, lights, refrigerators, security systems, et al. — is ever-evolving, and in 2017 Cisco Systems moved to trademark a blockchain that would monitor the various devices for trustworthiness.

Clearly there is more to come. Blockchain will disrupt a great many sectors in the years to come, and we have its reliability and security to thank.

How Far Can The Smartwatch Go?

How Far Can The Smartwatch Go?

A lot of tech industry naysayers have been claiming for years that the smartwatch has maxed out its usefulness. This could not be further from the truth, as the smartwatch has continued to evolve each year since its initial launch. Here is a look at some of the major ways that smartwatch technology is developing.

  1. Advanced Health Monitoring

The health monitoring features on the smartwatch continue to improve year after year. This year’s model features a medical-grade heart monitoring application. The watch can already monitor sleep patterns, heart rate fluctuations, and blood pressure. Industry experts believe that in the next five years the watch might be able to detect blood sugar levels, stress levels, and even possess a cancer detection feature. Expect huge leaps in smartwatch biometrics monitoring in the years to come.

  1. Superior Battery Life

A major complaint regarding the smartwatch has been its battery life, with many consumers feeling like the battery should offer far more efficiency. Smartwatch innovators are currently working hard to extend the battery life by leaps and bounds. By making the smartwatch’s CPU, display technology, and other core features much more energy-efficient, it is thought that the battery life could be extended by 60 percent or more.

  1. Advanced Safety Features 

With GPS tracking and video surveillance technology rapidly advancing lately, the smartwatch will eventually incorporate these safety-centric technologies. With a highly accurate built-in GPS tracker, parents can monitor their younger children’s whereabouts much more closely. The video surveillance and video chat features built into the smartwatch are also rapidly advancing, giving users the ability to display in real-time where they are at any given moment. Parents across the world will embrace these evolving safety features.

  1. They’re Becoming More Fashionable

The old days of the smartwatch were admittedly less than fashionable. The device looked fairly clunky and out of place on the wearer’s wrist. That is all changing, however, as the smartwatch is sleeker, more elegant, and more customizable than ever before. Smartwatch wearers no longer have to feel like their device is standing out due to its awkward appearance. The latest designs look like designer timepieces created by leading fashion brands.

  1. Advanced Damage Resistance 

The early smartwatch models were prone to taking on damage quite easily as their LED screens were particularly delicate. That is not the case today, however, as the smartwatch feels like it is nearly indestructible. Advances in watch casing materials will eventually lead smartwatches to the point where they are nearly impossible to damage with heat, water, excess sunlight, or impact. Expect smartwatches in the future to feature titanium and other highly advanced composite materials.

  1. CPU Advances

There will come a day when a simple smartwatch rivals the computer processing power of some of today’s personal computers. The CPUs built into smartwatches are better than ever before and they’re evolving at warp speed. With advanced smartwatch features and greater processing demand coming from consumers, the smartwatch will continue to evolve to keep pace with all of the latest apps, features, and display capabilities. Apple is even working on highly-touted nano-technology that will be incorporated into smartwatches within five years.

  1. Advanced Commerce Features

It is quite tedious and difficult to purchase anything with today’s smartwatch models. That is expected to dramatically change in the future. Not only are advanced e-commerce options being incorporated into the latest smartwatch apps, but eventually people will be able to use their watch to pay for non-virtual goods and services. That’s right, over the next five years smartwatches will possess features that can purchase groceries, gasoline, and other basic essentials.

3D Printing Nanomaterials for Medicine and Healthcare

3D Printing Nanomaterials for Medicine and Healthcare

As 3D printing technology advances, more industries will adopt it to further their efforts. This is especially true for medicine and healthcare, where strong nanomaterials have the ability to create more effective treatments. 3D printing represents a huge opportunity for pharmaceutical, medical device, and other healthcare-related companies to design groundbreaking drugs, rapidly produce medical implants, and streamline the way doctors and surgeons provide care to patients. 

3D printing technologies have already been used in a number of applications, including cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, and many more specific fields. So far, however, we’ve barely tapped the technology’s potential in healthcare-related applications. There are high expectations for what we can expect from this technology going forward. The most probable and most talked-about developments include:

Implantable Organs and Tissue

3D-printed organs will likely become available soon, which would be a game changer for patients in need of organs. Manufactured organs would reduce waiting time (and waiting lists), allowing surgeons to treat more people in need of life-saving operations. This also includes tissues and synthetic skins for transplanting and/or for pharmaceutical and cosmetics testing. 

Preoperative Planning

Custom-designed 3D-printed anatomical models are becoming useful new tools for personalized patient treatments. By integrating clinical and imaging information, surgeons will have the ability to perform individualized preoperative planning, resulting in less time spent in the operating room and fewer complications. Doctors can create 3D models of an individual patient’s anatomy, which aids in planning one’s surgical approach and allows doctors to fit prosthetics in advance. 

Customized Surgical Tools and Prostheses

3D printing can be used to produce patient-specific implants or surgical guides and instruments. Customized tools and prostheses equate to better outcomes and lower costs. 

Customized Pharmaceuticals and Devices

These technologies have the ability to provide unprecedented benefits to the industry, which is under increasing pressure to reduce costs and improve care. 3D drug printing can customize a drug’s outer layer to control absorption time in a patient’s system, and also allows for dosage personalization. We’ll also see faster production of new device designs and/or improvements to existing ones. Everything from hearing aids to dental implants to eyeglasses could be designed to fit and operate more effectively and be produced more quickly. 

Medical Education

3-D printed, patient-specific models can speed student learning and make it possible to present students will a range of different physiologic and pathologic anatomy, which better prepares them for future practice and enables all schools, regardless of resources/budget, to provide such instruction. It also allows the introduction of rare pathologies to medical students that wouldn’t otherwise have exposure in such training. Likewise, 3D printing can assist doctors with educating patients on their own conditions since it’s much easier to understand 3D representations of anatomy rather than asking patients to examine 2D images from CT or MRI scans. 

Clearly, 3D printing has the potential to significantly alter and improve the clinical field, making huge advancements to our medicine and healthcare. As printers evolve and safety regulations are instituted, this technology offers more and more promise for our future.