May 23, 2019

Bosch Announce Trial To Use Ethereum, One Step Closer Towards Mainstream Adoption?

German automotive components company Bosch have disclosed they are running trials using the Ethereum network. Although a spokesperson declined to comment further, their vision for the automotive industry includes self-driving technology and IoT connectivity. Nonetheless, as Bosch already have existing relationships with IOTA and Hyperledger, it will be interesting to see how Ethereum might fit into this mix.

Bosch’s Vision For The Future Of Cars

Back in 2017, Bosch CEO, Volkmar Denner set forth the company’s outlook for the future. In doing so, he spoke about four key technologies in AI, cloud computing, IoT networks, and blockchain. While he acknowledged the influence of bitcoin, he was quick to dismiss the use of blockchain as a currency. He said:

“The first application of blockchain was something that had nothing to do with our IoT. It was a currency that exists only in the internet, you all know it, it’s bitcoin. So, of course we are not interested in Bitcoins but if you understand this technology in a little bit more detail you easily recognize that it can be used for something completely different. Which is highly relevant for our IoT strategy. We can establish smart and secure contracts between individual human beings.”

Blockchain Restores Trust

The latest Bosch Connected World (BCW) conference, which took place in Berlin on 15th May 2019, saw the company share the most recent developments of their loT vision. While 2018 was about selling web-enabled products, this year is focussed on partnerships to evolve the IoT ecosystem.

As far as blockchain is concerned, Bosch sees distributed ledger systems as necessary for restoring trust in the internet by democratizing it. According to their press release:

“To build trust in digital ecosystems, we need open platforms and an internet in which users have the power to decide for themselves. If users are “captive,” a web platform provider can change its terms of use at will. By gaining independence from the big internet players, users no longer have to blindly accept such changes.”

Real World Use

From having a trusted and secure network in place, real-world applications have the foundation from which to operate. At BCW 2019, they discussed a partnership with energy supplier EnBW for customizing the process of charging electric vehicles. For example, their system will take into account information about the customer, such as having small children. As a result, the network can then tailor the customer’s experience by returning more relevant results, such as charge points near playgrounds. This concept centers around matching user’s requirements for choosing, booking, and paying for recharging services.

Bosch is partnering with the Germany-based electric utility company EnBW to test out a prototype of blockchain-based car charging stations.

— Jason Valliere (@JasonValliere2) May 18, 2019

Similarly, in conjunction with Siemens, Bosch is looking at simplifying the process of parking your car. Their system proposes direct communication between the car and nearby parking facilities. On arrival at the chosen car park, sensors identify the vehicle and raise the barrier accordingly. On exiting, the fee will be settled automatically via a virtual transaction. This system precedes the need to carry change or worry about losing a ticket.

Can Ethereum Scale?

Bosch has laid out its plans for the “economy of things,” which showcases a world of machine to machine communication, where sensors and smart contracts operate in conjunction to give us a seamless experience. However, can Ethereum, as a second generation blockchain, play its part?

Considering the functionality of competing networks, for example, IOTA, whose tangle technology is zero fee and infinitely scalable, it’s hard to justify the implementation of Ethereum as an IoT network.

All the same, the use of Ethereum is a trial, and whether Bosch chose IOTA, Hyperledger, Ethereum, a combination, or none at all is not the primary concern. What’s more critical is the groundwork that is happening right now. The outcome of which will bring blockchain to a future near you.

Published at Thu, 23 May 2019 13:53:41 +0000

You might be interested in …

July 3, 2017

How a Bitcoin Whitehat Hacker Helped the FBI Catch a Murderer

An ethical hacker breached the database of a phony darknet website offering hitman services and leaked the data. The information from the data dump helped the FBI in their investigation of a man who murdered his wife.

In November 2016, Stephen Carl Allwine, 47, of Cottage Grove, Minnesota, killed his wife in “one of the most bizarre cases ever seen,” police officers reported. The husband tried to mask the murder as a suicide, including putting a 9 mm pistol next to Amy Allwine’s elbow. However, detectives arriving on the scene identified the case as murder and collected evidence — mostly electronic devices, such as computers — belonging to Mr. Allwine. Later on, in January, investigators arrested and charged Mr. Allwine with second-degree murder based on the forensic evaluation of the confiscated electronic equipment.

In May 2016, a hacker called “bRpsd” breached the database of a controversial hitman service offered on a darknet website. The service, “Besa Mafia,” offered a link between customers and hitmen, who could register on the site anonymously. The price for a murder ranged between $5,000 and $200,000, but clients seeking to avoid fatalities could also hire a contractor to beat up a victim for $500 or set somebody’s car on fire for $1,000.

The hacker uploaded the data dump to a public internet website. The leaked files contained user accounts, email addresses, personal messages between the Besa Mafia admin and its customers, “hit” orders and a folder named “victims,” providing additional information on the targets.

The breach highlighted the fake nature of the website, which operated only to collect money from the customers. Chris Monteiro, an independent researcher who also hacked into the site, stated the owner or owners of Besa Mafia had made at least 50 bitcoins ($127,500 based on the current value of the cryptocurrency) from the scam operation.

According to a message posted by a Besa Mafia administrator and uncovered in the dump, “[T]his website is to scam criminals of their money. We report them for 2 reasons: to stop murder, this is moral and right; to avoid being charged with conspiracy to murder or association to murder, if we get caught.”

The leak of the Besa Mafia database helped the police investigating the murder of Mrs. Allwine. As the officers analyzed her husband’s devices, they discovered the suspect had accessed the dark web as early as 2014. Furthermore, investigators identified the pseudonym Mr. Allwine used on the darknet, “dogdaygod,” which was also linked to his email, “dogdaygod@hmamail.com,” in some cases. Detectives found bitcoin addresses in the conversations between Besa Mafia and Mr. Allwine, which linked the husband directly to the “dogdaygod” pseudonym, providing authorities with necessary evidence for the case.

Eventually, law enforcement agents analyzed the data dump bRpsd leaked and discovered Mr. Allwine’s email in the list. In addition, investigators found messages between the suspect and the Besa Mafia admin. According to a criminal complaint, Mr. Allwine paid between $10,000 to $15,000 to the supposed hitman service to kill his wife. The complaint detailed how Mr. Allwine had decided to have the hitman shoot Mrs. Allwine at close range and burn down the house afterward.

However, once the funds were transferred, the Besa Mafia communicator told Mr. Allwine that “local police [have] stopped the hitman [from] driving a stolen vehicle and taken [him] to jail prior to the hit,” thus rendering him unable to complete his “service.” The complaint cited Sergeant McAlister who reported that during that time, “no one was apprehended in Minnesota and western Wisconsin in a stolen vehicle and possession of a gun.”

It is likely that the ethical hacker’s data breach had an impact on Mr. Allwine’s case; on March 24, 2017, the Washington County District Court charged him with first-degree murder. In addition, officers have gathered more evidence in the case — a drug called scopolamine was discovered at 45 times higher than the recommended level in Mrs. Allwine’s body. Investigators subsequently discovered that her husband had also ordered the substance on the dark web.

The post How a Bitcoin Whitehat Hacker Helped the FBI Catch a Murderer appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.

January 15, 2019

Ethereum [ETH] becomes the biggest gainer a day before Constantinople hard fork

Ethereum [ETH] becomes the biggest gainer a day before Constantinople hard fork Ethereum [ETH]’s up and down movement on the cryptocurrency chart has caught the attention of a lot of users in the cryptosphere. The […]

June 6, 2018

Coinbase Acquires Financial Services Firm to Become SEC-Regulated Broker Dealer

Coinbase Acquires Financial Services Firm to Become SEC-Regulated Broker Dealer Leading US cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase initiated the process to become a fully regulated broker dealer by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According […]