STEEM Blockchain Privacy

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Everyone needs safety, particularly humans. Maslow puts safety as one of the basic needs alongside physiological, love, esteem and self-actualization. This need is often expressed by people who organize their environments in a manner that minimizes exposure to potential risks, threats or harm. These are physical, emotional, financial among others; if not addressed can potentially harm an individual.

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DPoS and Security Protocols in Steem Environment

Secure needs are not different from humans just like it is with the blockchain system. In this context security means saving the data sensitivity which affects user’s financial safety. Within the Steem ecosystem itself, the blockchain plays a crucial role in protecting its users’ privacy and security. Implementation of Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) is done by Steem. DPoS is a type of PoS that combines voting whereby token holders select a few delegates who validate transactions and create new blocks in them. These delegates take turns suggesting and validating blocks optimizing consensus process hence leading to faster transaction confirmation times.

In the meantime, I learnt some more about DPoS and its working. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on Steem official website reveal that DPoS model with witnesses rather than miners could enhance efficiency in block production. In comparison to Bitcoin (BTC) where all new coins go to miners, only 10% of the new coins created on the Steem blockchain will be paid to block producers (witnesses). The other 90% will be distributed between content creators, curators and Steem Power holders.

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The security levels of Proof-of-Stake and Delegated Proof-of-Stake seems to be an endless discussion. Even though PoS and DPoS have their own pros and cons. PoS is characterized by energy efficiency, accessibility, as well as security; while DPoS brings about streamlined governance and quicker consensus. In Proof of Stake (PoS), cryptocurrencies staked or locked up by users provide the required security but in DPoS they delegate processing power for transaction verification to delegates known as witnesses so as to ensure trustworthiness during transactions. Therefore, I believe that both these consensus mechanisms possess their own ways of preserving security.

Potential Attacks

Four common attacks hackers or fraudsters employ when targeting blockchain technology include:

Name of the Attack	Description
Phising Attacks	Phishing is like a sneaky trick where scammers try to get your login details. Watch out, there are false emails that look like real ones and which may come from a person one can trust in order to make you give out your important details such as wallet keys. Always be cautious and check again the messages you receive via email for safety!
Routing Attacks	Blockchains rely on rapid, substantive exchanges of real-time data. It must transmit great quantities of information within a short time period. However, hackers sometimes take possession of this data while it is being sent to the internet service providers. In a routing attack, everything may appear normal to users; nothing seems amiss at all. Yet behind the scenes, scammers have acquired sensitive data or even your money without any suspicions.
Sybil Attacks	Sybil attack is when hackers create many fake identities with an aim of overwhelming and crashing a network. The term “Sybil” comes from a character in a novel who had multiple personality disorder.
51% Attacks	To do mining efficiently especially on large-scale blockchains, one needs to own huge amounts of computing power. If miners or groups get enough resources they could end up having more than half the mining power of blockchain systems. Anything above fifty percent means they control transaction logs and manipulate them if desired at will.

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As shown, I have discussed how security is maintained via DPoS e.g. the Steem blockchain. Hence we ought to have security measures in place for our safety like data encryption and prevention of likely attacks. Encryption means changing information or data into a code especially to prevent unauthorized access. Data encryption is an elementary practice that transforms information into a code. Within this context, data encryption becomes important in order to protect our personal details from going to the wrong hands, being abused or falsified.

Data encryption within the blockchain means an algorithm can translate sensitive information into a secure code. This way, only authorized users who hold appropriate cryptographic keys can access it thus hindering unauthorized elements from decrypting or tampering with the same. Blockchain protocols are made resilient against numerous potential attacks that can threaten data integrity and security. A decentralized network with distributed consensus makes it extremely hard for any other entity to gain control over the system which not only maintains its integrity but also ensures security of blockchain technology.

Privacy Mechanism and Features Among Steem Environment

As a platform user, there are many comforting things about the features that ensure my safety in the Steem Ecosystem. This could be in terms of both my personal data and asset protection. Interestingly enough, these security measures not only shield against threats but also contribute to creating a positive and trustworthy environment where users can interact freely.

Generally, we have two public reputations: Reputation Score and Steem Power. The liquid STEEM and SBD balances should not be made public either. Personally, I choose to hide STEEM and SBD balances in the Steemit Wallet by setting them at a certain price. This is because apart from being an exchange medium, we can also use market features in the Steemit Wallet to conceal our assets such that they cannot be seen by others.

Another proof which shows how much importance is given for our security in steem is delegation feature. One of the indications of how secure Steem can be is its delegation feature. I know this may come across as obvious, but just think about it: if we had to send some SP without delegating it, there would certainly be many loopholes and possible frauds. Naturally, we would not want our Steem Power powered down by another person.

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By the way, while on the subject of SP power down, I remember a scenario when an account was hacked and the proceeds from this were credited into someone else’s account upon the power down. To avoid these kinds of incidents passwords should be secured so that they do not get into the wrong hands.

Steem has given us four different types of passwords in order to make sure only we can access our accounts. These four keys are; Posting Key, Active Key, Owner key and Memo Key. The fourth key is in a class of its own amongst the quartet. It is specifically designed for privacy purposes and is used to encrypt or decrypt private messages sent via blockchain technology. Although this functionality could one day become immensely powerful, it currently remains underutilized across most platforms.

When you need to decrypt a message that has been sent privately, it is better if the key with least permissions is used and in this case that would be the Memo Key.

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Last But Not Least

Last, we have to ensure our security. Security features are provided by the platform but protecting them falls within our responsibility. Here are some tips from me on how to navigate through this platform while maintaining your security:

Don't you ever give your password to anybody. Think of your password as anything less than a personal fortress. It belongs only to you and no one else. There’s never any legitimate reason for a reputable service provider to ask for your password directly. When we don’t share passwords our accounts remain guarded against intrusion.

Keep your personal data. Watch out what information you put online because it can be exploited for phishing or identity theft cases. This platform is built on trust and keeping personal information secure is everyone’s job. Keep the profile informative enough but avoid mentioning sensitive data like addresses, numbers or financial details often reviewed privacy settings. And, be careful about those third-party apps that demand access to your data.

As a user, I believe it would be excellent if Steem developers add multi-factor authentication to strengthen user account security. Despite the fact that single-factor authentication might be prone to attacks, especially phishing. Unlike 1FA, which only requires using passwords and usernames during login process, 2FA necessitates further measures like one-time passwords (OTP) and authentication keys to minimize chances of unauthorized access. On top of asset protection issues, 2FA also makes certain that no one else apart from the owner of an account can sign in into their accounts even for activities such as creating articles, upvoting or making comments.

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I want to invite three of my friends to join this challenge, so we can learn new things together and revisit what we have already known. To @irawandedy, @heriadi, @afrizalbinalka, I'm looking forward to your participation.

Thank you for taking time reading my post

El-Nailul