Most are familiar with blockchain technology from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, blockchain technology has numerous applications in different fields, including:
- Finance,
- Healthcare,
- Real estate, and more.
With the increased adoption of blockchain technology across multiple industries, it’s clear that people are becoming more used to the idea of decentralized transactions. But how exactly can blockchain technology affect how we design and secure web pages?
What is Blockchain Technology?
Blockchain technology is a decentralized record of transactions across a network of computers. All the transactions are chronologically linked together in a chain—thus the name “blockchain.”
Put simply, blockchain ensures there’s undisputable integrity in each transaction.
For example, imagine you’re writing a story with a group of friends, and you each get to write one sentence at a time. To make the story really good, you all decided to have your own notebooks where each part of the story is duplicated whenever someone comes up with a sentence.
Each time one of your friends adds a sentence, all the other members of the friend group write the same sentence in their notebook. As a result, everyone effectively has the exact copy of the story word-for-word. This ensures everyone is on the same page about how the story should go.
Now, imagine one of your friends trying to change the story by writing an additional sentence that the group didn’t approve of. Because everyone else has a copy of the story, it will be glaringly apparent that one of the members changed the story for their own benefit.
Just like writing a story with your friends, blockchain technology ensures that every action in a network is made transparent with others. This reduces the risk of fraud, increases security, and decentralizes the process.
Benefits of Blockchain-based Web Design
Although blockchain technology seems to have a steep learning curve, knowing more about this emerging technology has numerous benefits across the board. Moreover, its impact on web design security is truly irrefutable.
However, it is very important to find a blockchain development company that can develop a top notch product for you. It is important to find a blockchain development company that can develop a top-level product for you.
But first, let’s talk about how blockchain tech can benefit websites and how they’re designed.
Decentralization
One of the primary benefits of blockchain technology is decentralization. Conventionally, transactions would be validated through a central authority. In our example above, think of it as someone holding the “principal notebook” that contains the story in its entirety.
The issue with centralized systems is that they can be prone to manipulation and can be inefficient at times. With blockchain technology, network participants themselves are the ones verifying and validating the transactions—ensuring a consensus within the group.
Transparency
Another one of the primary benefits of blockchain technology is transparency. When a network uses blockchain technology, all transactions are visible to everyone in the network, with no exceptions.
Transparency is a must for a group consensus, so everybody must know about each transaction being made. Transparency also has the added benefit of improving trust within a network while reducing the risk of fraud.
Security
Blockchain networks utilize cryptographic techniques to protect transactions within the chain. Encryption helps prevent unauthorized access to the data stored on the blockchain and helps preserve the integrity of its transactions.
With blockchain technology, unauthorized individuals would be unable to tamper with transactions or modify anything on the ledger without detection.
Problems with Blockchain Implementation in Web Design
Despite all of its benefits, blockchain implementation in web design security is not without its faults. There are numerous issues developers constantly have to contend with—especially since blockchain is an emerging technology that isn’t entirely understood by the general population.
Scalability
Perhaps one of the significant issues with using blockchain technology for web design is scalability. Conventional blockchain networks like Bitcoin still have limitations when it comes to processing speed.
If your website handles a large number of transactions, delays and dips in site performance are inevitable.
As a user, you’ve probably experienced many slow websites, and you know they are incredibly frustrating. Because user comfort and experience should be the priority when designing for the web, scalability concerning speed becomes a prime concern.
Also, a good, quality website will be a great asset to your business. For example, media and entertainment software should be scalable and made with the right technology to keep customers satisfied.
User Experience
Most people are not very well versed in blockchain technology, with most having only a rudimentary understanding of it in relation to cryptocurrency. Based on that alone, there will be significant issues with developing a website intuitively for optimum user experience.
Unfortunately, intuitive design is one of the most critical considerations in web development. Just by design alone, users should know where to click, how to easily navigate the page, and experience the app without much of a learning curve.
As it is, blockchain technology needs to be more intuitive, and making it digestible for most people remains challenging for web developers. Some of the more vital reasons are:
- Inherent complexity. By nature, blockchain isn’t very simplistic and can be pretty challenging to grasp if you’ve had little to no exposure to the concept.
- Trust. Because blockchain technology is relatively novel, most users are likely skeptical about its applications—especially in finance. New users may have issues developing trust in the system, especially since everything on the blockchain is digital.
- Lack of familiarity. Blockchain adoption still has a way to go before it becomes mainstream. Until then, a user’s lack of familiarity with the concept will remain an issue when integrating blockchain technology into website design.
- Delays. Delays can occur when blockchain networks experience a high volume of transactions. Users who aren’t used to this happening might eventually grow frustrated or lose trust in the network.
As technology progresses and decentralized transactions become more commonplace, what is intuitive for the typical web user will also change. With increased blockchain adoption, we will see users become more attuned to blockchain technology integrated into website design.
The Impact of Blockchain on Web Design Security
Blockchain networks can significantly impact a web page’s security. Despite skepticism, blockchain technology legitimately offers increased safety and security for online transactions.
Audit Trails
Blockchain audit trails are tamper-proof. Suppose you recall the earlier example of you and your friends writing in the notebook. In that case, the existence of each transaction on every notebook in the “network” removes the risk of somebody tampering with a transaction.
In effect, any transaction made on a blockchain network is irrefutable. If unauthorized modifications are made, they are immediately detected, and website owners or managers can ensure increased web transparency.
Immutable audit trails have the benefit of:
- Increased detection of suspicious activities
- Better incident response
- Increased compliance with regulation
- Improved accountability
- Continuous monitoring
Overall, audit trails on a blockchain improve web security by ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of webpage resources and data.
Smart Contracts
Put simply, a smart contract is a self-executing contract. Where traditional contracts require multiple steps, such as terms of agreement, execution, etc., smart contracts do all of these automatically based on predefined conditions.
Smart contracts effectively eliminate intermediaries and streamline processes. They can be executed on platforms like Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain.
Smart contracts can improve web design security through the following:
- Immutable audit trails,
- Automated security measures,
- Tamper-proof execution, and
- Secure transactions.
Decentralized Hosting
Traditionally, websites are hosted in a central location—imagine a massive warehouse of all the data, files, and resources needed to keep the website running on the web. The information is then managed by the web host. Examples of web hosts include:
- GoDaddy,
- Bluehost,
- DreamHost, and
- SiteGround.
Centralized hosting means that all your website data is held in one place, which could cause a ripple effect when hosting services fail.
In contrast, decentralized hosting means that smaller chunks of website data are stored across varying places, effectively decentralizing the hosting process.
Because data storage is decentralized, there is more efficient load balancing within the network—further increasing fault tolerance.
Decentralizing hosting yields numerous benefits, including:
- Improved scalability,
- Censorship resistance, and
- Reduced points of failure.
Identity Management
Conventional identity management requires the use of third parties—centralized authorities—like governments or corporations to verify identities. This means user identity is kept and managed by singular sources.
However, identity management on a blockchain network is distinctly different. Instead of being centrally managed by one entity, digital identities are managed through cryptography. Because the keys are unique to each individual, there is no need for authentication via third parties.
The benefits of identity management in a blockchain network involve:
- Increased control. On a blockchain network, you are in charge of your own identity. Since there is no central authority to manage and dispense verification, you are in charge of the people with whom you share your information.
- Global access. Due to the decentralized nature of blockchain networks, your data becomes much easier to access globally than through conventional methods. This means you get to share and verify your identity across borders—increasing global interaction and access to services.
- Secured identity. On a blockchain, your identity is kept secure and private due to encryption. Data related to your identity is encrypted on the blockchain, which makes it more challenging for unauthorized parties to gain access.
- Trustworthy verification. Blockchain networks utilize cryptographic verification that ensures your data is verified in a trustworthy manner. With blockchains, you can rest assured that your identity will not be stolen or fraudulently used for unauthorized means.
The Future of Blockchain and Web Design Security
Today, blockchain technology remains an amorphous concept for most. But with time and increased adoption, we will begin to see the benefits of blockchain-enabled web design. In the future, we will likely see
- Advanced scalability and performance,
- Increased integration,
- Standardization,
- Enhanced Privacy on the web,
- Regulatory compliance, and more.
As blockchain technology continues to progress, and as people become more receptive to decentralized networks, we will continue to see more and more of the positive impacts of blockchain on web security.
Conclusion
Blockchain technology can be quite a challenging concept to grasp—especially if you aren’t very technical and only have a rudimentary understanding of most technology.
However, blockchain isn’t just limited to cryptocurrency, NFTs, or whatever the latest trend is. Blockchain has legitimate applications in web design and has the potential to completely revolutionize how we design and secure our websites.
Paying attention to blockchain technology now will pave the way for better implementation in the future.
