Guardtime Announces BLT, New Blockchain Standard for Digital Identity

TALLINN, ESTONIA--(Marketwired - May 21, 2015) - Guardtime, the first and only platform for ensuring the integrity of data and systems at industrial scale, today announced BLT, the authentication and signature protocol meant to replace RSA as the standard for digital identity. In contrast to RSA's reliance on quantum-vulnerable asymmetric key cryptography, BLT is based on Guardtime's quantum-secure Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI) technology, which uses only hash function cryptography.

"RSA has been the dominant digital signature scheme since the 1970s, but it's outdated and cannot scale for the explosion of data or devices we're seeing with the Internet of Things, mobile and machine-to-machine technologies. Most importantly, on the advent of quantum computers, RSA could be rendered completely useless," said Mike Gault, CEO of Guardtime. "No practical and scalable alternative for the market exists, until now. BLT provides a scalable, secure alternative to RSA -- practical for authenticating not only data in motion, but also for data at rest in the cloud or as part of infrastructure."

KSI blockchain technology employs one-way hash functions to generate digital signatures that can prove the time, integrity and attribution of origin for electronic data. BLT extends this approach to provide human and machine identity management, with a level of non-repudiation consistent with existing digital signature schemes. Through this methodology, BLT benefits include:

• Simplified revocation management: There is no need to check the certificate validity when verifying signatures, eliminating the need for complicated Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs).
• Long-term validity: There is no need for periodic re-timestamping of the signatures due to expiring keys -- time and integrity of the signature can be proven mathematically without reliance on trusted parties or the security of keys.
• Limited liability: Unlike RSA, BLT signatures cannot be generated offline, removing the potential for unlimited liability in the case of private key theft.
• Quantum immunity: BLT's hash functions cannot be broken using quantum algorithms.
  
  

"Apart from robust security, e-commerce and/or device registration applications, BLT greatly improves the strength of any signing and authentication process," said Matt Johnson, CTO of Guardtime. "BLT collapses security issues and removes traditional trust anchors with this new signature scheme. It's clean, efficient and beautifully simple, demonstrating the power of KSI to transform the world's security landscape."

Guardtime announces BLT after more than seven years in development, building off its proprietary KSI technology, which is already being utilized in government, enterprise and private applications. The country of Estonia ensures the integrity of the world's most advanced digital society with Guardtime. Ericsson, a world leader in communications technology and services, recently announced a data-centric security offering based on Guardtime's technology that will enhance trust, transparency and accountability for IoT and for machine-to-machine applications.

The efficacy of Guardtime's BLT protocol was demonstrated by Ahto Buldas, Risto Laanoja and Ahto Truu, after whom BLT is named. Academic proofs of the system and resources can be found at https://guardtime.com/blt-technology.

About Guardtime
Guardtime is the first and only platform for ensuring the integrity of data and systems at industrial scale. Guardtime created Keyless Signature Infrastructure (KSI) to take on the challenges of today's perimeter-based security systems and secure the integrity of data in today's increasingly digital world. Built on an industrial blockchain and quantum-immune hash functions, KSI signs any and all data across a system, allowing independent verification of time, location and authenticity for any moment in history. Guardtime's mission is to build the essential backbone for truth, assurance and integrity for our digital world.