2020 3rd International Conference on Smart BlockChain (SmartBlock)
Blockchain Technologies and Their Applications
in Data Science and Cyber Security
Bhavani Thuraisingham
Computer Science Dept.
The University of Texas at Dallas
Richardson, TX, USA
2020 3rd International Conference on Smart BlockChain (SmartBlock) | 978-1-6654-4073-8/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/SMARTBLOCK52591.2020.00008
bxt043000@utdallas.edu
Abstract— Blockchain technologies have been very
effective in processing distributed transactions
securely. They have many applications including in
handling bitcoin cryptocurrencies and smart
contracts. More recently the use of blockchain has
been explored for data science applications. This
paper examines blockchain technologies and
discusses their applications in data science and cyber
security.
Keywords— Blockchain, Bitcoin, Smart Contracts, Data
Science, Privacy, Cyber Security
I. INTRODUCTION
The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) has defined blockchains to be “tamper evident
and tamper resistant digital ledgers implemented in a
distributed fashion (i.e., without a central repository)
and usually without a central authority (i.e., a bank,
company, or government)” [1]. Blockchain technologies
essentially provide a platform for the secure transfer of
the data that are part of any transactions including
financial transactions and contracts. At the heart of
blockchain is cryptography that ensures that the data
being transferred is not tampered with and provides
authenticity and integrity. The transactions involved in
blockchains are simply a transfer of assets and the assets
are essentially data that may represent financial
information, healthcare information or even corporate
information. One of the most popular applications of
blockchain is Bitcoin which is essentially financial
cryptocurrency. Transfers of bitcoins between different
individuals are executed through blockchains.
In addition to Bitcoin, another popular application of
blockchain is Etherium. It is stated in [2] that Etherium
“has been created to implement not only transactions, but
contracts which contain transactions with conditions and
rules.” Such contracts are called smart contracts and have
applications in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT)
where billions of devices have to work together and
978-1-6654-4073-8/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE 1
DOI 10.1109/SmartBlock52591.2020.00008
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create smart contracts for exchanging data and executing
the processes. Essentially, s is a peer-to-peer technology
with no central control.
Blockchains essentially deal with transactions and
transactions involve data. Massive amounts of data have
to be collected, processed, analyzed and shared in
various transactions. That is, data science techniques are
at the heart of many of the transactions. Blockchains
provide a way to execute these transactions securely.
This paper will discuss the applications of blockchain in
Data Science and Cyber Security. Section 2 discusses
blockchain technologies. Section 3 discusses blockchain
for Data Science while Section 4 discusses blockchain
for Cyber Security. The paper is concluded in Section 5.
For an overview of blockchain technology we refer the
reader to [1] and [2].
II. BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGIES
Blockchain essentially consists of a collection of blocks
that are linked together via chains. A block is essentially
a file that contains data pertaining to a transaction. The
data from one block may be transferred to multiple
blocks. Furthermore, a block may receive data from
multiple blocks. The data in each block is permanent and
immutable. Blocks can be added to the blockchain as the
transaction progresses. Furthermore, each transition has
to be verified. However, unlike in non-blockchain
applications where transactions are usually verified by a
central authority, in a blockchain based transaction, it is
verified by a distributed collection of processes.
As discussed in the NIST document [1], blocks can be
published without permissions which means anyone can
publish a block or with permissions where the blocks can
be published only with the approval of an authority,
either centralized or decentralized. An important
component of blockchain is cryptographic hash
functions. This is a form of a message digest where
checksums are computed based on the contents. This is
one of the key components that provide security (e.g.,
confidentiality, integrity, authenticity) for blockchains.
Another major component of blockchain is the notion of
transaction which is the means of interaction between
two parties. Also, it is through transactions that
cryptocurrencies are passed between the users of the
blockchain. Blockchains use asymmetric key technology
which is essentially public key cryptography.
Blockchains may also use network addresses which are
derived from the public key cryptography. At the heart of
blockchain is the notion of a ledger which is a collection
of transactions. The transactions are executed in a
distributed fashion and therefore the architecture to
support the blockchain is a distributed ledger. As
transactions are executed, blocks get added to the
blockchain which contain information such as a list of
validated transactions and the metadata about these
transactions. These blocks are chained together to form
the blockchain.
There are several other details that pertain to blockchains
such as the consensus model (e.g., proof of work model)
forks and smart contracts. In the proof of work model, a
user publishes the next block showing the proof that the
work has been completed. Bitcoin uses this model. In
some cases, the blockchains may need to change and
such changes are called forks. As stated in [1], a “smart
contract is a collection of code and data (sometimes
referred to as functions and state) that is deployed using
cryptographically signed transactions on the blockchain
network.” These nodes in the blockchain execute the
smart contracts. Examples include Etherium and
Hyperledger Fabric’s chaincode. More details of how
blockchains execute transactions as well as the
descriptions of the various components can be found in
[1] and [2].
III. BLOCKCHAIN FOR DATA SCIENCE
With the advent of the web, computing systems are now
being used in every aspect of our lives from mobile
phones to autonomous vehicles. It is now possible to
collect, store, manage, and analyze vast amounts of
sensor and other data emanating from numerous devices
and sensors. Such systems collectively are known as the
Internet of Things where multiple autonomous and
distributed devices and systems are connected through
the web and coordinate their activities. However,
security and privacy for the massive data systems within
the IoT has become a major concern. Due to the large
volumes of heterogeneous data being collected from
numerous devices, the traditional cyber security
techniques such as encryption are not efficient to secure
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the IoT and related big data systems. More recently, the
developments in data science are also being examined
for securing such systems. Furthermore, the data science
techniques could be attacked and need to be secured.
Blockchain is emerging as a key technology for securing
the data science techniques. That is, securing the data
collection, data processing, data management, data
analytics and data sharing activities via blockchain is
being examined. It is stated in [3] that “data analysis is
possible right from the edge of individual devices.
Additionally, data generated through blockchain is
validated, structured and immutable. Since the data that
is provided by blockchain is ensured of data integrity, it
enhances big data.”
As stated in [4], that data scientists “are now relying on
blockchain to authenticate and track data at every point
on a chain. Its immutable security is one of the main
drivers for its adoption. This decentralized ledger
protects data through multiple signatures, thus
preventing data leaks and hacks.” It is also stated that
blockchain is becoming key to maintaining trust,
improving data quality and securely sharing the data. In
many organizations, trust is enforced by a single
authority resulting in single point of failure situation.
With the decentralized nature of blockchain, trust can be
ensured by a collection of processes in the peer-to-peer
network. Similarly, for data sharing, blockchain
technologies enable multiple parties to access and share
the data securely. Blockchain is also enabling the
verification of the integrity of the data at every point of
the transactions. The distributed ledger at the heart of
blockchain can also determine the provenance of the
data which is an important aspect of data science.
Blockchain is also key to keeping track of all the
transactions in a supply chain process [5] and this also
includes the data supply chain [6].
Other efforts of blockchain for data science include the
ones reported in [7] and [8]. For example, in [7], the
authors discuss how blockchain can be used in big data
analytics for analyze private data. Their approach is
based on the Hyperledger fabric Block chain. In [8], the
authors state that data security and privacy cut across all
aspects of data science and then discuss how blockchain
can provide solutions due to its decentralized
infrastructure.
In our recent work [9], we argue that blockchain based
cryptocurrencies have the entire transaction graph
accessible to the public (i.e., all transactions can be
downloaded and analyzed). We then investigate whether
the transaction graphs in blockchains impact the price of
the underlying cryptocurrency. We show that the
topological feature computed from the blockchain
graphs can be used to predict Bitcoin price dynamics. In
[10], we have discussed privacy-aware policy-based data
lifecycles which involve data collection, storage,
management, analysis and sharing. We believe that
blockchain technologies can ensure security for the
entire data lifecycle process. Finally, we have examined
various aspects of integrating cyber security and data
science [11] as well as explored a data driven approach
for the science of cyber security [12]. We need to
explore how blockchain can ensure the security for such
data lifecycle activities. Finally, there has been a lot of
work on multilevel security for database management
systems in the 1980s and 1990s [13]. We need to explore
the use of blockchains in the designs of such multilevel
secure database systems including in the execution of
multilevel distributed transactions.
IV. BLOCKCHAIN FOR CYBER SECURITY
Blockchain technologies were developed mainly to
execute secure transactions including the secure transfer
of cryptocurrencies. As stated earlier, the heart of
blockchain is cryptographic checksum. Therefore,
security is at the forefront of blockchain. This section
briefly discusses the blockchain applications for security.
Four security-based use cases of blockchain are
discussed in [14]. It is stated that centralized storage is
not secure due to single point of entry. With the
distributed processing capability of blockchains, the data
could be distributed across multiple devices. That is, the
distributed ledger-based architecture for blockchains
facilitates distributed data storage. Cryptographic
checksums are used to ensure security. Furthermore, the
key can be revoked any time and this way one can
enforce dynamic security. Another application of
blockchain is in providing IoT security where billions of
devices are connected. Such a system facilitates
distributed processing. As a result, blockchain
technologies can be used for the secure communication
between the devices and not have centralized control. A
third area is in DNS (Domain Name System). DNS
systems are usually centralized and therefore hackers can
break into such systems without difficulty. However, due
to the distributed nature of blockchains, hackers will find
it more difficult to find the single point of entry. Finally,
most messaging systems use end-to-end encryption.
However, more recently, these systems are beginning to
use blockchain technologies. Again, the distributed
processing capabilities provided by blockchains, enables
a uniform way of communication in messaging systems.
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Several other articles have discussed the use of
blockchain for security. For example, in [15] it is stated
that blockchains “could potentially help enhance cyber-
defense as the platform can prevent fraudulent activities
via consensus mechanisms, and detect data tampering
depending on its underlying characteristics of
operational resilience, data encryption, auditability,
transparency and immutability.” It also adds that
blockchains enhance security by eliminating humans in
the authentication process, reduce distributed denial of
service attacks (DDoS), provide traceability, and support
decentralized storage. Similar applications are also
discussed in several articles including in [16] where the
use of blockchains to enhance security including for data
confidentiality and integrity are provided.
V SUMMARY AND DIRECTION
In this paper we discussed blockchain technologies and
their applications in data science as well as in cyber
security. In particular, we discussed various concepts
such as blocks, transaction execution, bitcoin, smart
contracts, cryptographic checksum and related
blockchain components and then discussed how
blockchain technologies could be used for data science
including data analytics and data sharing. Blockchain
provides security for the entire data life cycle process.
Finally, we discussed the applications of blockchains for
security including for IoT security, storage, DDoS
attacks, confidentiality and integrity, as well as for
authentication.
The next step is to examine various aspects of data
science activities including the privacy aware policy-
based data life cycle process and explore how blockchain
technologies and be securely applied for various
distributed transactions involved in these activities. In
addition, smart contracts in supply chains including data
supply chain as well as executing financial transactions
need to be explored. Finally, blockchain applications in
cyber security need to be explored further including
areas such as ransom-ware and adversarial machine
leaning. We believe that blockchain is the glue that
integrates data science with cyber security.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I thank my PhD students including Dr. Ceren Abay and
Mr. Brian Ricks as well as colleagues Profs. Murat
Kantarcioglu, Latifur Khan, Cuneyt Akcora, and Yulia
Gel for discussions. I also thank Ms. Rhonda Walls for
editing this paper.
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