Blockchain could improve security

By Gary Hunt, senior content editor

Blockchain technology can make records more secure by allowing access to more people.

For anyone who remembers what it was like to search for the key to the filing cabinet, that might seem counterintuitive. But it’s true, said Ryan Watson, CPA, principal at Upsourced Accounting and Xero ambassador.

“A lot of the conversation about blockchain is the cost benefit of the added security,” he said.

Watson joined us on the latest episode of OSCPA Spotlight to continue our conversation on blockchain. He said by its nature, the technology is tough to hack.

“It's not this one database that a hacker can come in and manipulate,” Watson said. “Any transaction on a blockchain would be tracked in real time. So you just can't hack one. There's thousands of copies of the same data. So, that is obviously a huge benefit, from a data integrity perspective... It's more or less tamper proof because of the decentralized nature.”

Watch this episode now to hear Watson explain why reliability of blockchain is less of a concern for CPAs than other existing technology. Also, catch Watson’s presentation, “The Connected Advisor: ReTooling with Technology,” this fall at the OSCPA accounting shows in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus.