Covalent - Securing your online data via a Smart Policy platform.
In an age where the average person is expected to have 6.58 networked device by 2020 (source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/678739/forecast-on-connected-devices-per-person/) network security has never been more important.
The internet as great as it is, does currently comes with it's downsides. In the month of June alone there has been a total of 145,942,680 records leaked via phishing, or data breaches across various different platforms and companies. It's become so bad, that websites like https://haveibeenpwned.com/ have been created to allow you to enter your email accounts to see if you have been part of one of the numerous huge data breaches in 2018, chances are that you will have been.
This is where COVA are stepping in, they are aiming to create an internet that is again secure, using smart contacts thats form a network of 'Smart Data' that keeps secret, learns from its users and improves upon the internet for the better. In doing so, COVA are aiming to contribute to the making of a new, secure internet.
Before we get started, like with all of my articles, most of the information received thus far and used in this article (unless otherwise stated) has been from the Telegram group, and is the best way to get quick updates and answers to any questions on the project, how to invest, or simply chat with the team. If you'd like to become a member of the Telegram community, you can join the official channel, here: https://t.me/covalentofficial
At it's base foundation, the internet it made up of a package of protocols, these protocols work together in harmony to ensure that the data you are sending, gets from point A to point B as fast and with as little impact to the you, the end user as possible.
For the average user, they don't care how their data is handled in transit, as long as they are able to browse the internet fine. However, the above protocols do have their issues. The data that is sent, is not regulated with what happens to it when it reaches it's destination. That website you are logging into with your credentials, how are they storing your passwords? is it in plain text or encrypted? Have they been breached? These are all questions that we should be asking.
Data silos, data breaches, intellectual property infringements, unwanted advertisements, election manipulations, digital footprints, and spam are just a few examples of what can happen to your data if it is mishandled at the destination you are sending it to.
From these breaches it becomes evident just how many people use the same password, not only across multiple sites, but that are commonly known as they are easy to guess / brute force. Here is a list of the most common passwords in 2018 taken from breaches available on the internet: https://www.mamamia.com.au/most-common-passwords/
This is where the COVA team are hoping to step in and solve these issues once and for all. With the COVA smart contract based internet, users and owners of data will be able to control exactly what happens to their data by attaching individual data usage policies to their data, dictating how it may be used, by who and for how long, ensuring that the programs that are operating on the network obey these polices without question. The team call this type of data management a “Smart Policy”.
The team has come up with a few examples of how this would work in their new version of the internet, for example:
- my Snapchat photo may only be rendered individually and not be processed by facial recognition.
- a shopper’s mobile GPS data may not be used with her other data to construct an intrusive customer profiling.
- that my credit card number may only be used once for a one-time charge. It will be erased from the server after the payment is completed.
- that my password is salted and hashed before being persisted to a database.
At the foundation of the COVA project, they have three main core aspects that will be working together; TEE network, a new programming language called Centrifuge, and a new virtual machine called CovaVM.
TEE - Short for 'Trusted Execution Environments' simply put this will be the nodes that run on the chain and provide the scalable computation power that the chain needs to carry out it's day to day functions. TEE ensures that any and all data that passes over these nodes will not be readable to the node owners (generally community members) and ensures that the privacy and security of the data is kept.
Centrifuge- is a Policy Specification Language (or PSL for short) that will be used to translate the data usage policies that users define into the the 'Smart policies' that enforce these actions. COVA Centrifuge is the counterpart of Ethereum Solidity.
CovaVM- is a Policy Enforcement Framework (or PEF for short). This is the section of the network that enforces the policies written by Centrifuge in the networks 'Smart policies', it is essentially for the 'law' of the network.
Ever wanted the chance to work for a startup company or get your foot in the door of a new and exciting blockchain project? Well here is your chance, currently the Cova team are recruiting for skilled coders and hackers. The requirements are as follows:
-- You have been coding since middle school. You spent more time hacking games than playing them.
-- You competed in coding competition and won awards on the national level.
-- You graduated from a top university and have over 3 years of engineering experience at a top technology firm.
If you think you have what it takes to be a part of the team, pop them an email here: [email protected]
Not seen a role suitable for you? Keep an eye on their website for additional roles as the team expands, here: http://www.covalent.ai/career.html
Now that you know more about the project and what it's aims and goals are, If you’ve like to know more about the project, or want to checkout any of their social media channels, so you can complete your own due dilligence you can find the links to them below:
Website: http://www.covalent.ai
Telegram: https://t.me/covalentofficial
Twitter: https://twitter.com/covatoken
Medium: https://medium.com/@covatoken