Everyone has noticed stories in the media of massive data breaches that compromise the privacy and security of individuals. For example, Marriott Hotel’s recent breach or the infamous fappening/celebgate that saw celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence have their iClouds hacked. These events reflect the inherent vulnerability of centralized data storage to digital attack and theft.

The reason is easy to grasp: all the information is stored in one place. Mainstream mass data storage solutions usually store each data object on one or two servers. This makes the data vulnerable to hackers who could get all the content by attacking only those one or two servers.

In contrast, blockchain technology makes decentralized data storage possible by spreading information across a large network of nodes, so it isn’t possible to steal it by attacking only one or two servers. One would have to hack an entire network of nodes. The impracticality of this makes blockchain data storage much more secure than current options.

Sharding

Blockchain’s storage and security capabilities make it a potential alternative to centralized and cloud-based storage. A key mechanism to do this is called “sharding”, which means splitting something up into fragments. For example, data (documents, contracts, reports, etc.) stored on the Sharder Network is encrypted and “sharded”, i.e. split into multiple small fragments. It is then distributed to different storer nodes around the world. In contrast, current cloud storage solutions usually store data on one or two servers without sharding or encryption.

Verification and Authentication

In addition to data storage, blockchain also has the capacity to validate data and detect whether it has been altered. Blockchain technology makes it possible to verify the authenticity of a file using its digital fingerprint or hash. Through this marker, the data’s owner can also keep complete ownership and access to the information while no one without authorization can access it.

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