Interpol researcher to discuss risk of malware in blockchain

Interpol researcher Christian Karam will discuss the possibility for blockchain playing host to malware at the Black Hat Asia conference, to be held in Singapore during March 24-27.

Researchers found remnants of a "Stoned" virus embedded in the blockchain last year. However, they said that only "snippets" of the malware existed in the blockchain and that it posed no real threat. But its traces were enough to set off alarms in Microsoft Security Essentials, which would identify the bitcoin client as a threat and delete it completely.

According to Christian, the open space on the blockchain where data can be stored can be useful for smart contracts and decentralized exchange, but at the same time it is vulnerable to potential threats. He will discuss the possibility of the malware to exist forever on the blockchain and the probable solutions to it.