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Seagate Technology and IBM worked together to use blockchain technology to reduce counterfeiting of hard disk drives.
Blockchain is the decentralized transparent and secure registry behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but its utility transcends many other parts of the technology, and the two companies will use it to uniquely identify hard drives – and perhaps other products – to prevent counterfeiting. IBM's blockchain leader, Jerry Cuomo, recently told me that Big Blue has 1,500 blockchain specialists.
The joint project is designed to help manufacturers, integrators and business partners combat counterfeit hard disks, using the IBM Blockchain Platform to authenticate the provenance of disk drive products, bringing a new level of multi-layered security to the management sector some data.
According to the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition, the global trade in counterfeit and pirated electronic products has reached more than $ 1.7 trillion in value.
Partners are creating an "electronic fingerprinting" system. Blockchain technology provides an immutable record of an object of value for the entire life cycle, so that no party can modify or add data without the consent of the network.
Once on the blockchain, data can be shared with other relevant parts of the network that have authorized access, so that the entire ecosystem of business partners can make sure they believe what they are getting is authentic.
To verify the authenticity of the product, Seagate will update the IBM Blockchain Platform on IBM Cloud with product authentication data based on Seagate's electronic ID (eID) at the point of production.
Each unique identifier can be used to verify the identity of a hard disk at any time during its product life cycle. Seagate certified cancellation uses cryptographic erasing technology to produce a digital data erasure certificate, which is electronically signed by the device under the Seagate protected public key infrastructure (PKI) and stored on the blockchain for the management of the compliance with emerging global data privacy laws.
Based on IBM's blockchain expertise and based on the Linux Foundation's distributed accounting framework Hyperledger Fabric, the IBM Blockchain platform is designed to allow network participants to add and view blockchain data based on their level of authorization.
During the life of a product, technology providers, service providers and consumers will be able to confirm the provenance of the product on the blockchain, which provides an immutable record of events. This can help reduce data loss, fraudulent products and warranty costs, while improving product assurance for customers during implementation.
"Blockchain technology can be extremely effective in confirming the provenance and authenticity of resources," said Bruce Anderson, general manager for the electronics industry at IBM, in a statement. "The ability to work with Seagate to combine the blockchain with advanced cryptographic product identification technology is what sets this work apart and points to the potential of the blockchain to re-imagine the lifecycle management processes of electronic products. counterfeit electronics are a global problem that requires an ecosystem effort to address ".
The eID and Certified Erase features are based on Seagate Secure technology, which can allow higher levels of reliability of the origin of the product and proof of data deletion. Customers can benefit from knowing that a unit is an original Seagate product and that any data can be securely erased, which can help customers meet international compliance standards.
"IBM has a proven track record of technological innovation as demonstrated by its market leadership in blockchain technology for the provenance of products in various industries," said Mark Re, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Seagate, in a statement. "By combining Seagate's innovations in product security with IBM's blockchain expertise, we want to show that we can help reduce the impact of product counterfeiting in the future."
While the development of the project continues in this joint effort to combat the counterfeiting of global products, Seagate and IBM are anticipating that they will expand the corporate network to include the participation of supply chain partners.
