| Blockchain has the potential to become a major force within the financial services industry by transforming the way information is secured within our expanding digitalized world. Blockchain provides added security through the authentication of peers that share virtual cash, encryption and the generation of hash values. Blockchain is the foundation on which the popular bitcoin platform is built on and is a technology that efficiently organizes and secures data so that it can ultimately reduce cost, enhance portability of data stored, minimize data duplication, and improve execution and the overall complexity of transactions. For example, one of the greatest obstacles in migrating services online is the ability to secure the data and verifies the identity of the users; for online authentication commonly relies on a password or the use of dual-factor authentication. This presents a problem because passwords are notoriously insecure and sometimes requires sending a code to a third party or a short message service (SMS) to the institution. However, the solution to this problem is blockchain. Blockchain may possibly be the enabling technology that transforms how transactions are recorded and transferred, without the complexity of requiring third-party attestations. Cloud computing has also been adopted within many financial institutions for its efficiency and availability. This capstone project will not only discuss the concept of blockchain technology within a financial institution and its security solutions (i.e., authentication, know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering) but blockchain technology adaption into the security of cloud computing. |
