Friday, September 21, 2018

How Can Blockchain Technology Help Save Our Privacy?

The article How Can Blockchain Technology Help Save Our Privacy? See more on: Business Law Group, LLC

Below is a good article on blockchain technology and privacy, especially when it comes to personal data.  As you are probably aware, the large companies out there (Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, etc.) have a TON of personal information about you that they use for advertising, etc. It’s very possible that blockchain technology can alleviate a lot of those issues. Check it out.See more at https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/How Blockchain Can Save Our Privacy Before It DisappearsHow Blockchain Can Save Our Privacy Before It DisappearsALEX MOSKOVThis ain’t your granddaddy’s privacy battle.Times were simpler when postcards were the big privacy invasion scare.Today, our personal privacy is under siege by veiled government surveillance programs and the countless tech company Trojan Horses.Privacy, per Merriam-Webster, is defined as the quality or state of being apart from company or observation, or freedom from unauthorized intrusion.Technical innovations in the past twenty years have blurred the lines of “apart from company” and “unauthorized intrusion,” and now our personal privacy is under attack from multiple fronts.Our locations are constantly being tracked on our phones, which are borderline inseparable from our bodies. We are under constant surveillance.Social media platforms know more about us than we should be comfortable with.Our sensitive information is floating around and being exchanged for a myriad of unauthorized purposes.Many personal privacy advocates have taken to blockchain and cryptocurrency entrepreneurship to build solutions that address the concerns of our dwindling right to privacy in the digital world.Technological advancements like blockchain and zero-proof have given the pro-privacy debate a new gust of wind. The beauty of these solutions is that they offer encryption or at least partial obfuscation on a massive scale.Privacy coins such as Monero and Zcash give us the freedom to transact without being tracked, but this could come at the prohibitively high cost of empowering and enabling criminal activity.Blockchain-based browsing and social media platforms like BAT, Steemit, and Sapien offer an escape from a manipulative data-mining browsing and social experience.blockchain and privacyThe following article explores the evolution of privacy in contemporary society, how the digital world has warped the reality of privacy and the rumbling dangers that come with it, and how blockchain and cryptocurrency projects offer a solution.A Contemporary Legal History to PrivacyPrivacy as we know it is a relatively recent development in human society. Our right to privacy isn’t explicitly stated in our Constitution and has been primarily defined by legal precedents, many of which haven’t accounted for the rapid societal change ushered in by the digital era.The rise of a private tech oligarchy posed new paradigms in which a slow-moving bulwark of a government is continually playing a game of iron-fisted catch-up.The government is in a precarious position when it comes to dishing out judgments against tech companies. These cases require light but decisive footwork to avoid stepping over and stifling private enterprise, while simultaneously protecting civilians from a very real bogeyman in the dark.The following are a handful of the legal precedents that have helped to dictate where the United States stands on personal […]



source https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/fintech/how-can-blockchain-technology-help-save-our-privacy/

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Can Blockchain Technology Prevent Another Economic Downturn?

This following article Can Blockchain Technology Prevent Another Economic Downturn? was first published on www.kcbusinesslawgroup.com

Blockchain – Can it help stabilize the financial system?Below is a good article on blockchain technology and whether it can help alleviate some of the problems that we had with the last economic downturn.  Now, I personally have a different view on this – I believe that the next downturn will be driven by different factors – which means that the problems that will happen cannot be solved through blockchain.  That said, this is a good article and helps you think through the different issues that surround the new technology and how they help in everyday life.see more at https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/https://www.mintdice.com/blog/could-blockchain-prevent-another-economic-crashLike any other system, the global economy is susceptible to failure at many different points. Unfortunately, due to the interconnectedness of the world, an economic crisis in one country could have disastrous consequences for other countries. This was the case during the United States economic crisis of 2008 in which the stock market crashed.Economic collapse on any scale usually happens as a result of disparities in the system that can easily be overlooked in the absence of clarity. However, blockchain technology could help avoid a financial crisis due to its transparency, security and decentralized mechanism. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are powered by this same technology which acts as a ledger for all transactions carried out on a network.The endless benefits of the technology have attracted countless investors over the years. Now, it is fast becoming an addition to every major corporation, from IBM and Mastercard to Nasdaq. Its properties are also attractive to financial institutions which constitute the industry that is most in need of the benefits it provides.The financial crisis of 2008 caused by a lack of transparency, greatly impacted various significant financial institutions and economies on a global scale. Blockchain technology affords banks full transparency, allowing them to spot such a crisis from a mile away. This way, they can take the appropriate preventive measures to ensure that it does not happen again. Banking authorities must make an effort to study the technology and better understand how it can be a force for the prevention of the next financial crisis.WHAT WAS THE 2008 ECONOMIC CRASH?The economic crash of 2008 was the worst economic disaster in the U.S. and the world since the 1929 Great Depression. The crisis caused a great recession after the cost of housing fell by 31.8%, even lower than that of the Great Depression. Although the crash occurred in 2008, the first signs were observed in 2007 when the prices of homes were too high.As a result, homeowners began to default on mortgage payments, leading to a downward economic turn which spread to the U.S. financial sector and eventually affected other countries. At the time, houses became extremely cheap, and homeowners were given loans worth up to 100% of the value of their new homes. Taking advantage of the profitable real estate sector, banks also made investments in subprime areas.The affected institutions stretched from investment banking corporations to commercial banks, insurance companies, and lenders. The situation […]



source https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/fintech/can-blockchain-technology-prevent-another-economic-downturn/

Monday, September 10, 2018

Some Things to Know about Cryptojacking

The blog post Some Things to Know about Cryptojacking was originally seen on Business Law Group Blog

Cyptojacking – Some Things You Need to KnowBelow is a good article on cryptojacking, which has risen to one of the most popular types of malicious code on computers. What happens is that the cryptojacker downloads software on your computers (usually small businesses are targeted) where the software will run the crypto software to mine bitcoin, etc. using your computing power.  The programs links multiple computers so that the hacker can use this to perform the back end operations – all while using your system to do it.What can be terrible about this is that this isn’t obvious.  It simply slows things down for your whole system, but doesn’t stop the system completely.  Many companies don’t recognize that they were hacked for months or even years.see more at https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/The Rise and Rise of Cryptojacking: What You Need to Know The Rise and Rise of Cryptojacking: What You Need to KnowCHRISTINA COMBENCryptojackingYou’ve probably heard of cryptojacking by now, otherwise known as illicit cryptocurrency mining. But oftentimes, we think that cybercrime affects large companies or that hackers only target important or affluent people. But here’s the thing about cryptojacking: it doesn’t discriminate on social or economic grounds.According to a study by Switchfast Technologies, small companies are actually a higher target for hackers. In contrast to common misconceptions, as long as they can make money, any company–or individual–is ripe for the taking. The absence of dedicated security personnel makes it easier for hackers to infect devices with malware, phishing, ransomware, or crypto mining botnets.Here’s a scary fact for you: 60 percent of small firms that suffer an attack go out of business within six months. And here’s an even scarier one: one in three small business owners have no safeguard in place to prevent a cyber attack. So for those of you surfing the net without taking proper precautions, it’s about time you did.The Unstoppable Rise of CryptojackingA few things you should know about cryptojacking:In 2018, cryptojacking became the largest cyber threat, knocking Ransomware off the top spot.Already, according to some sources, one-quarter of all companies have been victims of cryptojacking.In Q4 of last year, cryptojacking incidents skyrocketed by 8,500 percent.Those are some pretty eye-watering statistics. In fact, earlier this year, we reported that cryptojacking was becoming an epidemic. But despite a temporary downturn in illicit cryptocurrency mining from March to July of 2018, cryptojacking looks to be gathering momentum fast.According to a report by Kaspersky Lab, Ransomware attacks are on the decline because they aren’t sustainable. Cryptojacking is becoming so popular because it can go on for long periods of time without the victims even knowing.Moreover, cryptojacking can take place on multiple devices, not just on your laptop or desktop. Think servers, mobile phones, and even IoT devices.Currently, mobile mining isn’t profitable enough for an individual to do. But deploying thousands of mining botnets to mine on multiple devices over a long period of time is. According to Kaspersky, countries that are particularly at risk when mobile mining takes off are India and […]



source https://kcbusinesslawgroup.com/fintech/some-things-to-know-about-cryptojacking/