October 24, 2016 By Larry Loeb 2 min read

Corda is a blockchain platform that does not use the typical format, such as the one used in bitcoin. Developed by financial firm R3, Corda is a distributed ledger platform used to differentiate the technology it uses from that of the cryptocurrency.

R3 started to develop a path in blockchain technology that would serve the particular needs of the financial industry in 2015. This week, R3 announced that it would release its work on Corda to the HyperLedger open-source initiative, a Linux Foundation Collaborative Project.

R3 Corda Makes Good on Its Promise

When R3 introduced Corda in April 2016, it pledged to open source the effort, which was designed to determine what sort of blockchain was suitable for a financial model. At the time, the company said the project was “greatly inspired” by blockchain systems, but that it would avoid the design choices that make traditional blockchains inappropriate for banking scenarios.

For instance, there is no unnecessary sharing of data to the entire community with the R3 model. Certain parties can see what data is held within an agreement on a need-to-know basis, but only those parties.

In bitcoin’s blockchain, all transactions are visible to the entire community. Corda’s transactions are validated by the specific parties to that transaction rather than the broader pool of validators who are not participating in the transaction. Corda can also orchestrate the workflow between firms without the need for a central controller.

Establishing a Consensus

Corda’s most important feature is its ability to establish a consensus between firms at the level of each individual deal, not at the system level, as bitcoin’s blockchain does. This greatly speeds up transaction validation.

“We want other banks and other parties to innovate with products that sit on top of the platform, but we don’t want everyone to create their own platform … because we’ll end up with lots of islands that can’t talk to each other,” James Carlyle, R3’s chief engineer, told Reuters.

If the major players use this platform for distributed ledgers, the usability of any Corda-based application will increase. This is just one step toward the proliferation of blockchain technology, but it could potentially be a giant step for banking security.

More from

How will the Merck settlement affect the insurance industry?

3 min read - A major shift in how cyber insurance works started with an attack on the pharmaceutical giant Merck. Or did it start somewhere else?In June 2017, the NotPetya incident hit some 40,000 Merck computers, destroying data and forcing a months-long recovery process. The attack affected thousands of multinational companies, including Mondelēz and Maersk. In total, the malware caused roughly $10 billion in damage.NotPetya malware exploited two Windows vulnerabilities: EternalBlue, a digital skeleton key leaked from the NSA, and Mimikatz, an exploit…

3 Strategies to overcome data security challenges in 2024

3 min read - There are over 17 billion internet-connected devices in the world — and experts expect that number will surge to almost 30 billion by 2030.This rapidly growing digital ecosystem makes it increasingly challenging to protect people’s privacy. Attackers only need to be right once to seize databases of personally identifiable information (PII), including payment card information, addresses, phone numbers and Social Security numbers.In addition to the ever-present cybersecurity threats, data security teams must consider the growing list of data compliance laws…

ICS CERT predictions for 2024: What you need to know

4 min read - As we work through the first quarter of 2024, various sectors are continuously adapting to increasingly complex cybersecurity threats. Sectors like healthcare, finance, energy and transportation are all regularly widening their digital infrastructure, resulting in larger attack surfaces and greater risk exposure.Kaspersky just released their ICS CERT Predictions for this year, outlining the key cybersecurity challenges industrial enterprises will face in the year ahead. The forecasts emphasize the persistent nature of ransomware threats, the increasing prevalence of cosmopolitical hacktivism, insights…

Topic updates

Get email updates and stay ahead of the latest threats to the security landscape, thought leadership and research.
Subscribe today