The number of cyber attacks and security breaches is on the rise and expected to surge even more in the forthcoming year. The cryptocurrency ecosystem, in particular, underwent a number of attacks resulting in losses running into millions of dollars.

Chief Security Expert at Kaspersky Lab Alexander Gostev believes that blockchain technology could help in dealing with this problem. Speaking at a press conference on the prospects of cyber security in 2017, Gostev said that blockchain may help to improve the security level, CoinFox reported.

Kaspersky Lab experts believe that cybercriminals will continue to explore new ways of stealing money. They said that the attackers will not only focus on banks but also other financial institutions such as stock exchanges and investment funds. In particular, they believe that in 2017, cryptocurrency market will be a major target of cybercriminals due to the tremendous changes that have taken place in this sector.

“If before there was only one bitcoin on the market, but today the number of different cryptocurrency up to 50, with about 10 of them having significant market capitalization. States have accepted the inevitability of virtual money and gradually start to implement them in their financial systems. It is possible that in the next year cryptocurrency market replenished with new samples, the release of which will be the real banks. Due to these circumstances, a number of banking transactions, which use technology blockchain and based on these digital currency may face new threats and vulnerabilities. And before the information security industry will arise a new problem for the Protection [of] crypto currency infrastructure”, Kaspersky Lab said (loosely translated).

Gostev said that blockchain technology could be used to create a system of distributed applications, with the different components of programs or services distributed among all participants of the blockchain network. He believes that such as approach will not only protect against data theft, but also provide a high level of confidentiality of all information.

"Blockchain technology, used today mainly in financial transactions, can easily become an alternative way to ensure the security of any information. The principle of the chain, constructed according to certain rules and secure encryption ensures that only one data block is processed at each stage of the transmission information. Consequently, in the case of intruders can not control the transaction process, since not receive all the necessary information. This principle can be extended to the entire Internet", Gostev said.