Cisco, Bosch, and others to develop blockchain protocol to secure IoT applications

Though the Internet of Things (IoT) is dramatically transforming everything from homes to factories, by making them smart and more efficient, it also poses several challenges including identifying, connecting, securing, and managing the devices.

Hence, Cisco, Bosch, and several other blockchain startups are coming together to develop a shared blockchain protocol which will secure and improve “internet of things” applications.

Blockchain is a tamper-proof distributed record of transactions that is maintained by a network of computers on the internet and secured through advanced cryptography which can provide additional security and better identity management features to the internet of things applications.

The initiative was founded at the New Horizons: Blockchain x IoT Summit in Berkeley, California, in December 2016 – bringing major companies and startups like Ambisafe, BitSE, Chronicled, ConsenSys, Distributed, Filament, Hashed Health, Ledger, Skuchain and Slock.it, and major corporations BNY Mellon, Bosch, Cisco, Gemalto and Foxconn together.

Dirk Slama, Chief Alliance Officer at Bosch Software Innovations, said, "We are seeing tremendous potential for the application of blockchain in industrial use cases. Being able to create a tamper-proof history of how products are manufactured, moved and maintained in complex value networks with many stakeholders is a critical capability, e.g. for quality assurance and prevention of counterfeits. This must be supported by a shared blockchain infrastructure and an integrated Internet of Things protocol."

The group also aims to provide security and reduce the growing level of malware attacks. Alex Batlin, Head of Blockchain at BNY Mellon said, "Blockchain has the power to improve resiliency and efficiency in a fully connected world. What’s missing today is a solution that provides trusted, tamper-proof guarantees for any title deed, public record, compliance event, or transactions, building on the way paper documents are used currently."

Several other companies are also teaming to advance the development of blockchain technology, such as IBM and Hitachi, which are a part of a project led by the Linux Foundation. Another startup called R3 CEV is running a programme with 40 banks to expand blockchain methods.