The U.S. Department of Defense plans to use blockchain to securely store data on highly confidential projects such as nuclear weapons

Blockchain technology has had a difficult time developing in non-financial industries, but it seems that this technology is crucial to military development. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a legendary research department of the US Department of Defense (DoD), is currently investing heavily in blockchain projects to securely store internal data of the Department of Defense, which may come from highly confidential projects such as nuclear weapons or military satellites.

The purpose of using blockchain systems is ultimately to achieve the most important part of computer security, namely "information integrity". It is mainly to track the records of viewing or modifying systems or data. Timothy Booher, manager of the DARPA blockchain project, gave an example:

(You can think of data as a castle). The key to protecting data security is not to build high walls outside the castle to prevent foreign invaders, but to understand whether someone has infiltrated the castle and what they have done.

Blockchain is a decentralized, unchangeable ledger. Blockchain can permanently record the history of network or database access, so that intruders cannot hide their actions. The blockchain system pursued by DARPA will undertake important intelligence work, reminding managers whether hackers have invaded or modified databases, or whether someone is monitoring a military system. Booher said:

"Wherever there are weapons... data integrity is usually extremely important. So, in the command and control of nuclear weapons and satellites, or even in all command and control systems, (information integrity) cannot be ignored.

In September this year, DARPA signed a 180万美元contract with computer security company Galois. The company's responsibility is to review the effectiveness of the blockchain solution provided by Guardtime through formal verification (a computer code review process using mathematical methods). Code that successfully passes formal verification is almost impossible to crack, so formal verification has become an indispensable part of DARPA's security program.

If this formal verification goes well, DARPA will consider using blockchain technology in the military field. Booher said:

We do see a lot of applications for [blockchain technology], and once formal verification has been done to prove its value in security, we will begin a series of meetings [with other DOD agencies] to discuss the feasibility of blockchain.

The use of blockchain in military systems is likely to drive the development of the technology in non-financial fields. In the first quarter of 2016, blockchain investment reached 1.34亿美元. Most of these companies are engaged in the financial industry. However, according to market research company Gartner, information security will become another representative market for blockchain technology. Last year, related companies received a total 750亿美元in investment, and by 2019, project investment in finance may exceed 1080亿美元.

With the number of attacks on companies and political institutions now increasing, a system that is immutable and can track records will naturally attract their attention. Booher said:

We want to build a high-trust system... Then we can do all kinds of things. We want soldiers to be 100% focused on their mission when they're driving a military vehicle, flying an aircraft, commanding a satellite.