As Data Breaches Surge how could Blockchain Combat Cyber Threats

By Lisa Gibbons

Using Blockchain and AI to tackle the rise of data breaches

A recent report by cyber threat intelligence platform Cyble has found 90 cybercriminal claims of successful supply chain attacks in a six-month period that encompassed February 2024 to mid-August 2024.

Not surprising given their reach, IT providers suffered the greatest number of those breaches, 30, or one-third of the total, followed by technology product companies, which experienced 14 of the 90 breaches. Aerospace & defense, manufacturing, and healthcare were the next most frequent victims of supply chain attacks.

Cyber threats are now mainstream. The rise in data breaches, malware attacks, and malicious hacks is a cause for alarm. This propels the need for innovative cybersecurity solutions with advanced technologies like blockchain that provide transparency and verification required to counter these threats.

The Growing Cyber Threat Landscape

According to the most recent report on cyber crime from IBM, the global average cost of a data breach has reached €4.49 million in 2024. This is an increase of 10% from last year IBM’s and the report also shows that 70% of breached organizations reported that the breach caused significant or very significant disruption.

Gabi Urrutia, VP of Security at Halborn recently noted that “Europe’s AI Act is setting a clear framework focused on transparency, explainability, and data privacy (with GDPR), ensuring responsible AI. In contrast, U.S. regulations are more fragmented, prioritizing innovation with fewer compliance requirements. These differences will shape how AI evolves across markets.”

Cybercriminals are constantly devising new methods to exploit vulnerabilities within organizational infrastructures. Although most of us agree that Artificial Intelligence is a breakthrough technology that will alter some of our societal behaviors in the most positive sense, there are concerns that it drives the number of threats into a new level.

The frequency and sophistication of attacks, particularly software breaches, have surged in recent years leading to widespread downstream effects that are both damaging and costly for any business operating in the supply chain sector.

With the pervasive nature of these threats that are becoming more frequent organizations need to shift their focus from reactive to proactive strategies. Now is the time for businesses to look at how advanced technologies can help businesses predict, detect and mitigate cyber risks.

Where are the threats coming from?

From data breaches to malware attacks to DDoS attacks, targeted cyber crime is a very real threat to the infrastructure of the internet today. Hackers get access to valuable information and credentials to exploit large databases and extract valuable data.

However, how about allowing blockchain technology to act as a preventative measure when developing and planning the future of decentralized products and services? In order to keep up with the knowledge of the hackers, cyber security experts and organizations can harness decentralized trust models.

Even when the codebase isn’t breached, customer databases contain critical information for threat actors to use in phishing, spoofing and credential attacks.

Attacks resulting from infiltration of an IT supplier’s code base are relatively rare, but the software supply chain is a source of near-constant vulnerabilities and cyberattacks that place all organizations at risk

Blockchain and AI as a Cybersecurity Tool

One potential solution is to use blockchain and AI technologies as a preventative measure when developing and planning decentralized products and services. By leveraging decentralized trust models to counter the growing sophistication of cybercriminals, cyber security professionals are one step ahead of bad actors.

The Blockchain AI market is projected to reach 973.6M USD by 2027. From early detection of cyber threats to pre-determining software vulnerabilities, Blockchain AI is poised to tackle some of our greatest cyber security challenges.

“Working with leaders from across the Supply chain industry we understand modern supply chain vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals can target the weakest links and compromised systems can do long term damage to any brand. Now more than ever it is important to empower businesses to provide visibility into their supply chains by offering real time insights and analysis,” says Dan Weinberger, Co-Founder and CEO of Morpheus Network.

Combining the immutability of blockchain with the scalability of artificial intelligence can offer a powerful mechanism in which to fight cyber threats. Cyber criminals have become experts at using our data and online behavior against us. By having a greater understanding of those vulnerabilities and using blockchain technology to analyze vast amounts of data the potential for attacks can be identified before they take place.

Addressing existing vulnerabilities

Also, blockchain powered by AI allows companies to better monitor threats and address existing software vulnerabilities.

Speaking with Cyber Security analyst Grace Dees of Resonance Security it is clear that the core strength of blockchain lies in its immutability. “The data once written into a blockchain cannot be altered or deleted without the consensus of the entire network. This provides an unbreakable chain of records, which is especially useful for tracking digital interactions, monitoring access, and verifying the integrity of sensitive data,” says Dees.

These logs are immune to tampering, meaning cybercriminals cannot erase or manipulate them to cover their tracks, ensuring that any malicious activity can be traced back to its source with precision. The audit trail created by blockchain also makes it easier for security professionals to investigate breaches or attempted intrusions and respond accordingly.

AI, on the other hand, excels at analyzing massive amounts of data and identifying patterns, behaviors, and anomalies that would be nearly impossible for human analysts to detect.

“By combining the strengths of blockchain and AI, organizations can create a cybersecurity framework that is both proactive and resilient. Blockchain ensures data integrity, decentralization, and transparency, while AI enhances detection, analysis, and response.” continues Dees.

Organizations that combine blockchain and AI to enhance security can analyze large amounts of data without directly exposing it, ensuring that sensitive information like customer details, financial data, or intellectual property remains secure even during AI-driven analytics.

Building robust defense mechanisms is essential to deter bad actors as sophisticated cyber threats get more and more frequent across all industries. Using blockchain technology combined with artificial intelligence, organizations can add multiple layers of defense. It enables businesses of all kinds to analyze large amounts of data without directly exposing it, ensuring that sensitive information like customer details, financial data, or intellectual property remains secure even during AI-driven analytics. Authenticating every user and every device will be critical going forward.

Together, these technologies provide organizations with the tools to monitor threats in real-time, predict vulnerabilities, automate defenses, and secure the entire digital ecosystem—especially in complex environments like supply chains. This not only improves cybersecurity but also builds trust and confidence in the safety of decentralized and digital operations.