John Furrier sits down with Hartej Sawhney of Hosho at HoshoCon 2018, the first ever blockchain security conference.
#HoshoCon #Hosho #Blockchain
https://siliconangle.com/2018/10/18/big-companies-circling-cryptocurrencies-concerns-push-hosho-strengthen-security-guestoftheweek/
Big companies are circling cryptocurrencies, but concerns push Hosho to strengthen security
Most people today don’t think twice about putting their hard-earned dollars into a bank. Yet, there is a growing sense of unease for users in the global cryptocurrency community that the platforms for storing tokens and various digital assets are about as safe as the mattress in an upstairs bedroom.
The concern stems from a steady drumbeat of bad news. In late September, Zaif (Tech Bureau, Corp.) reported that 6,000 bitcoin had been stolen from its Japanese cryptocurrency exchange. Another Japanese exchange called Coincheck Inc. lost an eye-catching $500 million in January. And in June, the Seoul-based bitcoin exchange Bithumb disclosed a hack that netted thieves $30 million, the second time in two weeks a cyberattack had victimized a South Korean cryptocurrency operation.
Part of the problem can be found in security flaws built into many of the tools, such as smart contracts, which drive many of the transactions on the blockchain. Hosho Group Inc. has built its business around blockchain security, providing smart contract auditing and penetration-testing services. The company has reported that 82 percent of the smart contracts it audited had vulnerabilities, and more than a quarter of those were critical.
Like microorganisms hungry for nutrients, malicious actors can sense abundance and move in for the kill. “We are all naturally targets,” said Hartej Sawhney (pictured), co-founder and president of Hosho. “It’s not about how much bitcoin you have. It’s about how much bitcoin someone thinks you have.”
Sawhney spoke with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the recent HoshoCon event in Las Vegas. They discussed large company interest in building on the blockchain, continuing problems with a lack of regulatory clarity, Hosho’s recent partnerships, and plans for new releases to bolster cryptocurrency protection.
This week, theCUBE features Hartej Sawhney as its Guest of the Week.
Largest companies explore blockchain
Security flaws in the cryptocurrency space are a problem because large-scale blockchain adoption by major companies, and a potential big-time payoff for nascent businesses in the space, is coming. Forbes recently compiled and published a list of the world’s largest public companies currently exploring blockchain innovation, and it includes the globe’s biggest firms.
Sawhney is well aware that large enterprises are circling. “You look around these conferences, and you don’t see too many suits,” Sawhney said. “But in the Fortune 500, many of them are either writing private blockchains or evaluating how they are going to use blockchain technology in their major businesses. The suits are coming.”
When the suits finally arrive, they will find an industry not only grappling with security concerns, but regulatory issues as well. And the climate has not been especially friendly from a government standpoint, at least in the United States.
Although there had been signs earlier in the year that the U.S. government was willing to engage in dialogue with the cryptocurrency community, the Securities and Exchange Commission has significantly widened its crackdown on initial coin offerings in recent months. Reports this month indicate that after issuing information-seeking subpoenas in the beginning of this year, the SEC is returning to the same companies and exerting pressure to settle through payment of steep fines and return of funds to investors.
The SEC shut down two bitcoin and ether securities in September, after previously closing coin offerings Munchee, Centra Tech and AriseBank earlier this year. This has left a number of startup companies in the cryptocurrency space debating whether to ride out the storm in the U.S., where regulatory guidance has been lacking, or flee to smaller countries that have provided clarity around what is permissible and what is not.
The tiny European country of Malta has emerged as one of the world’s friendliest jurisdictions for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, leading the country’s prime minister to tell world leaders at a United Nations gathering in New York last month that his country was now “Blockchain Island.”
“It shows the immaturity of this space if very legitimate companies are all going to flee to small countries like Malta or to islands like Bermuda,” Sawhney said. “At the end of the day, Malta is also part of the European Union, and if the EU changes their mind, things can change in Malta.”
...
Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent coverage of HoshoCon 2018:
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Hartej Sawhney, Hosho | HoshoCon 2018
John Furrier sits down with Hartej Sawhney of Hosho at HoshoCon 2018, the first ever blockchain security conference.
#HoshoCon #Hosho #Blockchain
https://siliconangle.com/2018/10/18/big-companies-circling-cryptocurrencies-concerns-push-hosho-strengthen-security-guestoftheweek/
Big companies are circling cryptocurrencies, but concerns push Hosho to strengthen security
Most people today don’t think twice about putting their hard-earned dollars into a bank. Yet, there is a growing sense of unease for users in the global cryptocurrency community that the platforms for storing tokens and various digital assets are about as safe as the mattress in an upstairs bedroom.
The concern stems from a steady drumbeat of bad news. In late September, Zaif (Tech Bureau, Corp.) reported that 6,000 bitcoin had been stolen from its Japanese cryptocurrency exchange. Another Japanese exchange called Coincheck Inc. lost an eye-catching $500 million in January. And in June, the Seoul-based bitcoin exchange Bithumb disclosed a hack that netted thieves $30 million, the second time in two weeks a cyberattack had victimized a South Korean cryptocurrency operation.
Part of the problem can be found in security flaws built into many of the tools, such as smart contracts, which drive many of the transactions on the blockchain. Hosho Group Inc. has built its business around blockchain security, providing smart contract auditing and penetration-testing services. The company has reported that 82 percent of the smart contracts it audited had vulnerabilities, and more than a quarter of those were critical.
Like microorganisms hungry for nutrients, malicious actors can sense abundance and move in for the kill. “We are all naturally targets,” said Hartej Sawhney (pictured), co-founder and president of Hosho. “It’s not about how much bitcoin you have. It’s about how much bitcoin someone thinks you have.”
Sawhney spoke with John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the recent HoshoCon event in Las Vegas. They discussed large company interest in building on the blockchain, continuing problems with a lack of regulatory clarity, Hosho’s recent partnerships, and plans for new releases to bolster cryptocurrency protection.
This week, theCUBE features Hartej Sawhney as its Guest of the Week.
Largest companies explore blockchain
Security flaws in the cryptocurrency space are a problem because large-scale blockchain adoption by major companies, and a potential big-time payoff for nascent businesses in the space, is coming. Forbes recently compiled and published a list of the world’s largest public companies currently exploring blockchain innovation, and it includes the globe’s biggest firms.
Sawhney is well aware that large enterprises are circling. “You look around these conferences, and you don’t see too many suits,” Sawhney said. “But in the Fortune 500, many of them are either writing private blockchains or evaluating how they are going to use blockchain technology in their major businesses. The suits are coming.”
When the suits finally arrive, they will find an industry not only grappling with security concerns, but regulatory issues as well. And the climate has not been especially friendly from a government standpoint, at least in the United States.
Although there had been signs earlier in the year that the U.S. government was willing to engage in dialogue with the cryptocurrency community, the Securities and Exchange Commission has significantly widened its crackdown on initial coin offerings in recent months. Reports this month indicate that after issuing information-seeking subpoenas in the beginning of this year, the SEC is returning to the same companies and exerting pressure to settle through payment of steep fines and return of funds to investors.
The SEC shut down two bitcoin and ether securities in September, after previously closing coin offerings Munchee, Centra Tech and AriseBank earlier this year. This has left a number of startup companies in the cryptocurrency space debating whether to ride out the storm in the U.S., where regulatory guidance has been lacking, or flee to smaller countries that have provided clarity around what is permissible and what is not.
The tiny European country of Malta has emerged as one of the world’s friendliest jurisdictions for cryptocurrency entrepreneurs, leading the country’s prime minister to tell world leaders at a United Nations gathering in New York last month that his country was now “Blockchain Island.”
“It shows the immaturity of this space if very legitimate companies are all going to flee to small countries like Malta or to islands like Bermuda,” Sawhney said. “At the end of the day, Malta is also part of the European Union, and if the EU changes their mind, things can change in Malta.”
...
Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent coverage of HoshoCon 2018:
