Xcel Token

The security of personal data, especially that which is stored online, is a human right. It has failed to evolve and actually been deteriorating in recent years. Blockchain technology has the potential to entirely change this. All of our data is stored online. We concede some of our most private information to the platforms that we use on a daily basis and we are often unaware which of our personal data is collected. Many users still conceal some of their most valuable data behind the shockingly weak combination of a username and password, with over half of users openly admitting they use the same password for all of their logins. Is Blockchain Secure? Yes, blockchain is innately secure. It utilises powerful  cryptography to give individuals ownership of an address and the cryptoassets associated with it, through a combination of public and private keys, made up of combinations of random numbers and letter. This solves the issue of stolen identity as ...

When glamour meets tech, the corollary is very widely accepted by people over the world even though tech-enabled fabric would cost a little extra. Most of the big brands today are changing the course of conventional fashion towards a more outré fashion. Recently Levis launched a SUPER DOPE smart jacket in collaboration with Google specially for people who commute on a bike. It costs $350 yet it is gaining a lot of popularity. You can listen to music, enable google maps, answer phone calls and enable text on your jacket while on-go. As I see it, the entire culture is shifting its pace and methods to infuse  technology  and related trends with it. The new way to survive is to adopt technology. Probably this is why most sports gear brand (like Nike) endorse themselves as more of a tech company than an apparel company. Nike is constantly coming up with radical solutions with state-of-the-art sensors to measure heart rate, speed, calories burnt, distance run while perfor...

A digital signature is a mathematical technique used to validate the authenticity and integrity of a message, software or digital document. As the digital equivalent of a handwritten signature or stamped seal, a digital signature offers far more inherent security, and it is intended to solve the problem of tampering and impersonation in digital communications. Digital signatures can provide the added assurances of evidence of origin, identity and status of an electronic document, transaction or message and can acknowledge informed consent by the signer. In many countries, including the United States, digital signatures are considered legally binding in the same way as traditional document signatures. How digital signatures work Digital signatures are based on public key cryptography , also known as asymmetric cryptography. Using a public key algorithm, such as RSA, one can generate two keys that are mathematically linked: one private and one publ...

Tested for decades, Mimblewimble uses elliptic-curve cryptography that requires smaller keys than other cryptography types. In a network that is using the Mimblewimble protocol, there are no addresses on the blockchain, and the network’s data storage is highly efficient. Mimblewimble needs about 10% of the data storage requirements of the Bitcoin network. This makes Mimblewimble highly scalable for storing the blockchain , significantly faster, and less centralized. Furthermore, the nature of the protocol allows for private transactions that are highly anonymous (more about this later). The birth of Mimblewimble Rejoice, Harry Potter fans! Another reference is coming from the movie fan world. The Mimblewimble Whitepaper   was first published on July 2016 in the Bitcoin research channel under the anonymous author name of Tom Elvis Judisor – the French name for Voldemort. Soon after the whitepaper was published – at the end of 2016 -, another anonymous user wit...

IoT or Internet of Things is an interconnected network of smart devices that include everything from our phones, baby monitors, fridges, front door keys etc. Increasingly, these devices are becoming integrated into our lives. According to Wikipedia, “The number of IoT devices increased 31% year-over-year to 8.4 billion in 2017 and it is estimated that there will be 30 billion devices by 2020. The global market value of IoT is projected to reach $7.1 trillion by 2020”. There are already lots of examples of IoT networks in use today. One welcomed example of an IoT smart device is the Petnet Smart Pet Feeder. This device allows us to automate the feeding of our pets. It is able to determine which is the best type of food for your dog or cat and order it via online stores. The feeder will then automate the amount and times when your pet can eat according to what is best for it. This device can be controlled via any smartphone so owners can ensure that their pet is bein...

The life cycle of a merchandise is a fascinating one. The next time you’re purchasing something in the supermarket, think of what all it had to go through to get in your hands. Think about where all the raw constituents came from, who all transported the raw material to manufacturing plant where it was fashioned, and how it ultimately got packed and ended up in the very shop where you are purchasing it right now.   Supply chains are absolutely critical for the overall well-being of your business. The current system of supply chains is outdated and requires a significant reboot. This is where the blockchain comes in.   A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable record of data that is managed by a cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) are secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain). The 3 properties of the blockchain technology that is going to ...

Blockchain technology has to be one of the principal innovations of the 21 st century assumed the ripple effect it is having on various sectors, from financial to manufacturing as well as education. Unknown to many, is that Blockchain history dates back to the early 1990’s. Since its popularity started increasing a few years back, a number of requests have cropped up all but underlining the kind of impact it is destined to have as the race for digital economies heat up. How blockchain emerged? Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta intended what many people have come to know as blockchain, in 1991. Their first work complex working on a cryptographically secured chain of blocks whereby no one could tamper with timestamps of documents. In 1992, they upgraded their system to incorporate Merkle trees that enhanced efficiency thereby enabling the collection of more documents on a single block. However, it is in 2008 that Blockchain History starts to gain relevance, thanks to the...

A principle which is a core obligation of information security for the safe utilization, flow, and storage of information is the CIA triad. CIA stands for confidentiality, integrity, and availability and these are the three main objectives of information security. For a deeper look into these objectives, check out our  security training classes . ·     The Application Access Layer defines the notion that access to end-user applications have to be constrained to business ought-to-know ·       The Infrastructure Access Layer describes the notion that access to infrastructure components has to be constrained to business ought-to-know. For instance, access to servers.   ·     The Physical Access Layer describes the notion that the physical access to any system, server, computer, data centre, or another physical object storing confidential information has to be constrained to business ought-to-know. ·       Th...

The art of cryptography is considered to be born along with the art of writing. As civilizations evolved, human beings got systematized in tribes, groups, and kingdoms. This led to the emergence of ideas such as supremacy, clashes, sovereignty, and politics. These ideas additionally fuelled the natural need of people to connect secretly with selective recipient which in turn ensured the continuous evolution of cryptography as well. The roots of cryptography are found in Roman and Egyptian civilizations. Hieroglyph − The Oldest Cryptographic Technique The first known evidence of cryptography can be traced to the use of ‘hieroglyph’. Some 4000 years ago, the Egyptians used to communicate by messages written in hieroglyph. This code was the secret known only to the scribes who used to transmit messages on behalf of the kings. Later, the scholars moved on to using simple mono-alphabetic substitution ciphers during 500 to 600 BC. This involved replacing alphabets of messa...

It is important to understand what a blockchain system is: a blockchain is a growing list of records, called  blocks , which are linked using  cryptography . Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block a timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle tree). By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of the data. It is “an open, distributed ledger that can record transactions between two parties efficiently and in a verifiable and permanent way. A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable record of data that is managed by cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) are secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain). Now that we’ve got a basic understanding of what a Blockchain System is we can dive right into understanding hybrid blockchains. Hybrid Blockchain Hybrid Blo...