As blockchain technology usage in every sector increases, the number of people misusing it is also growing. At the center of all the misuse is decentralized public blockchain networks such as XRP, Ethereum and Bitcoin.
A case in point comes out clearly through a report from Mashable which came out in March 2018 where child pornography data was found in Bitcoin public blockchain network. The latter was possible since public decentralized blockchain networks have no centralized authority. Decentralization gives rights to anyone to run a server on the chain. The servers in place can then be used to upload illegal content with ease.
While the above forms the basis of a public blockchain network, it also opens up the platform to misuse. Through the use of private browsers, VPNs among other software users can circumnavigate security measures in place and easily upload unwanted content.
Decentralization Implicates Everyone
Though it gives blockchain technology its most unique feature, it also gives everyone a chance to use the platform leading to its misuse. Content gets uploaded via which still hold the content and end up implicating every participant running a server in the crime. Furthermore, with the data not open to modification, this leads to data uploaded being available forever.
While the above depicts the dark side of blockchain, innovations in the space are still coming out, and some are granting rogue users ways of misusing the platforms. A software released on July 23, 2019, intended for uploading files on XRP ledger might be the next frontier for rogue users. The latter allows uploading of data files of any size on Ripple blockchain network. Furthermore, it is way cheaper compared to other platforms; this means anyone with a few bucks can upload illegal data on the net. Once uploaded, the data is readily available for download and can’t be deleted. Moreover, large files can be broken down into smaller chunks to fit with platform requirements.
However, members of the XRP community that are not lost have enabled an XRP Forensics Unit to monitor the use of the platform. The Forensic Unit aims to monitor the network, but also has other responsibilities. Through the use of the Google Cloud artificial intelligence API, each data that may contain explicit or illegal content is analyzed. With the software you can scan the content without saving it previously to the hard disk since in addition with the Vision API you can obtain suspicious features such as images or other inappropriate data.
