How useful it is to issue digital certificates on the blockchain?

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Blockchain technology is used in several ways in varied industries for offering high-security managing distribution systems and recording valuable information. Blockchain records all transactions without any verification from third parties. An evolving issue in recent years is - counterfeiting certification. It is posing serious threats to people. Issuing paper-based certificates manually is prone to errors and time- consuming. Day by day, the number of people's data is increasing, so deploying a system for both issuing and verifying digital certificates based on blockchain technology can solve issues of forged documents.

What is the current problem with document certification?

Many organisations and businesses need original documents for verification purposes before further processing. Some valuable documents like (birth certificates) exist only once. Parties involved in verification and issuing other certificates may experience hesitancy to handle these sensitive documents and that can result in damage or even loss. Many parties are unable to protect the valuable physical pieces of paper with this process. Another big problem comes from data theft. Many people have reported it. So the question comes: how can this issue be solved? Creating digital proof or digital certificates certified or signed by respective institutions or authorised organisations can be beneficial. With blockchain-based digital certificates, you can access and verify the digital asset's authenticity without depending on any intermediary or third party. Traditional data records like paper files deteriorate over time. storing records like digital certificates on the blockchain can help in safeguarding sensitive credentials from destruction & damage. Blockchain document security methods can help users seamlessly secure their sensitive documents.

What about blockchain solutions?

Blockchain technology has brought a revolution in storing and sharing data. The mechanism of cryptography helps in keeping information fully secured. Blockchain offers a digital ledger or decentralised database of data. Centred on computer networks that approve updates before data get recorded and verified. It lessens the reliance and vulnerability of centralised data storage. Instead of handling physical pieces of documents, issuing and storing digital certificates in blockchain can be advantageous to users. You can efficiently utilise the benefits of blockchain, like - authentication, encryption and decentralisation. Every certificate consists of references of both issuer and receiver with a hash (a sign of document), that is stored in the public database. It is identical in the number of computers throughout the globe. These digital certificates with blockchain technology have vital additional advantages over any other certificates.

How does blockchain make digital certificates work?

When a digital certificate is issued, data gets digitised. A digital identity gets assigned to every certificate. All of the digital certificates are tagged as well as traceable. Original documents are stored safely in the computer networks in the blockchain which are known as nodes. In totality, blockchain makes digital certificates highly transparent and secured. It also makes it easy to unfurl any fraud because this technology can expose any forged or outdated certificates.

Are these digital certificates tamper-proof?

Yes, the digital certificates are tamper-proof not by just signing but right after the beginning of the transaction. A signing algorithm produces a signature that is encrypted through a private key. The digital signature in these certificates can never be forged without having access to the private key of the user or members. With the help of document security QR codes, users can secure their valuable credentials.

What are the potential benefits of issuing digital certificates on the blockchain?

Blockchain has evolved to be beneficial for the financial industry. This technology is the most talked about and sought-after technology used in the world. There are innumerable benefits of issuing digital certificates on the blockchain. Some of them are here: a) Require fewer resources for issuance: Issuance and maintenance of digital certificates on the blockchain require a very less number of resources. As a result, the whole process saves time, effort and human capital. b) Digital certificates are conveyable: Contrary to physical certificates, the digital ones issued on the blockchain need not be carried around every place. Digital certificates are there to exist for a lifetime. These certificates can be easily accessed on any of your devices from any part of the world. c) Ideal as Identity proof: Digital certificates based on blockchain are the best substitution for the traditional proofs of paper identification. Digital certificates are issued on a highly secured framework of blockchain which is fully secured. These verifiable certificates can be easily traced all the way back to an issuer. This method makes the procedure transparent. You can use the blockchain document security method for securing and storing your valuable documents. d) Gives overall data security: Paper certificates can also take days and months to get issued and dispatched. Paper certificates can be altered without issuing the institute's knowledge and that is risky. Digital certificates issued on the blockchain can not be altered by any person. If someone tries to tamper with it, then verification will fail. This makes data in your digital certificates fully secured as well as traceable. e) No third party requirement: Blockchain verification of digital certificates can be performed by any person having access to the network. There is no need for any third party interference for verification. Digital certificates can be verified even if any organisation that issued them no longer exists. f) For micro-credentialing: Every data remains encrypted in the digital certificates issued on the blockchain. Organisations or businesses can issue "micro-credentialing" for recognizing, career skills, learning and so on. It can help both students and organisations. g) Comes at an affordable cost: Using blockchain is not expensive. With the help of the blockchain-powered platform, you can issue digital certificates for numerous services with ease. You may need no extra software or hardware and be done with an internet connection. So in nutshell, the unique features of blockchain technology make issuing digital certificates easy and tamper-proof. Blockchain technology simplifies and facilities the entire process of issuance of digital certificates. It also helps in the easy transfer of these certificates leading to the expansion of contents and information. We hope in the next few years, more and more organisations will come forward in embracing digital certificates issuance on the blockchain. A blockchain document security system can help you to secure sensitive credentials with ease.

Tamper Proof Your Documents with Blockchain Technology

Posted on August 11, 2022

The accord algorithm of blockchains makes it virtually impossible to change any document once it gets stored in the blockchain. A blockchain algorithm is an intricate mechanism that promises that the data captured on all the nodes in the blockchain network (the participating servers or computers that store a copy of the blockchain ledger) stays uniform.

The documents stored on each node and their order are the same across all the nodes in the network. Hence, with blockchain technology, you can ensure tamper proof documents and data. It is because once you have written a data or document in a blockchain, it is virtually unchallengeable. Nobody can modify it as long as the blockchain network stays unaffected. On alteration of the recorded data or document on any nodes, the consensus algorithm averts the altered data from getting written to the other.

Increasing Requirement for Tamperproof Data & Documents

One of the disadvantages of digital transformation has been the growth in data theft. Government and business documents become the victim of cyber hackers, and document and database hacks can expose names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, confidential profiles, addresses, driver’s license numbers, and more.

Actually, documents are in the middle of many organizational processes, making procedures traceable and accountable. However, by default, the records are not safe against manipulation. It means anybody having access to a document can modify or alter it, and it will be tough to reconstruct the original document. Indeed, often an attacker performs document fraud in such an inconsequential manner.

You can use blockchain-based security to guard all your documents against fraud or hacking. For example, if you are an educational institution, you can ensure educational certificate verification by scanning the QR code on the certificate or document. The blockchain-based QR code has a unique hash value. Once anyone scans the document, they get access to the authentic data only if the QR code’s hash value matches the value on the blockchain network. Hence, it ensures that all your documents are tamperproof.

Document & Certificates Integrity

Blockchain-based document protection ensures complete document integrity by forming a hash of every document version. This hash ensures that nobody can manipulate the versions without leaving signs. The storage of all the hashes is on private or public blockchain networks; hence, no one can manipulate or delete them. They are always available for you to verify them at any time. Just scan the secure QR code, and the document unfolds.

Timestamping

Each version of the document stays time stamped. Since every hash is time-stamped, your organization or institution can keep track of the precise moment when anyone has altered a specific document. If any alterations happen to the document, stakeholders with access to the version control panel can witness this as a separate time stamp.

The Bottom Line

Blockchain solutions are there for internal and independent confirmation of the integrity of the documents, and these practically remove any document scam that includes tampering with document contents. Hence, your organization can stay at peace with blockchain document security solutions. Find out more about how you can tamper proof your documents with ProofEasy.