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IBM<\/a> unveiled\u00a0its \u201cBlockchain as a Service\u201d today, which is based on the open source Hyperledger Fabric<\/a>, version 1.0 from The\u00a0Linux Foundation.<\/p>\n IBM Blockchain<\/a>\u00a0is a public\u00a0cloud service that customers\u00a0can use to build secure blockchain networks. The company introduced the idea last year<\/a>, but this is the first ready-for-primetime implementation\u00a0built using that technology.<\/p>\n The blockchain<\/a> is a notion that came into the public consciousness around 2008 as a way to track bitcoin digital-currency transactions. At its core blockchain is a transparent and tamper-proof digital ledger. Just as it could track bitcoin\u2019s activity in a secure and transparent fashion, it\u2019s capable of tracking other types of data\u00a0in private blockchain networks.<\/p>\n This could allow any private company or government agency to set up a trusted network, which would allow the members to share information freely, knowing that only the members could see it, and the information\u00a0couldn\u2019t be altered once it\u2019s been entered.<\/p>\n Jerry Cuomo, VP of blockchain technology at IBM, says his company\u00a0is offering\u00a0a set of cloud services to help customers create, deploy and manage blockchain networks. This fits in with IBM\u2019s broader strategy to offer a wide range of cloud services to its customers.<\/p>\n Although the blockchain piece is based on the open source Hyperledger Fabric project of which IBM is a participating member, it\u00a0has added a set of security services to make it more palatable\u00a0for enterprise customers, while offering it as a\u00a0cloud service helps simplify a complex set of technologies, making it more accessible than trying to do this alone in a private datacenter.<\/p>\n \u201cSome time ago, we and several other members of the industry came to view that there needs to be a group looking after, governing and shepherding technology around blockchain for serious business,\u201d Cuomo told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n The Hyperledger Fabric project was born around the end of 2015 to facilitate this, and includes other industry heavyweights such as State Street Bank, Accenture, Fujitsu, Intel and others\u00a0as members<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the work these companies have done to safeguard blockchain networks, including setting up a network, inviting members and offering encrypted credentials, was done under the guise of building extra safe networks, IBM believes it can make them even safer by offering an additional set of security services inside the IBM cloud.<\/p>\n While Cuomo acknowledges that he\u00a0can\u2019t guarantee that IBM\u2019s blockchain service is unbreachable, he says the company has taken some serious safeguards to protect it. This includes\u00a0isolating\u00a0the ledger from the general cloud computing environment,\u00a0building a security container for the ledger to prevent unauthorized access, and offering tamper-responsive hardware, which can actually shut itself\u00a0down if it\u00a0detects someone trying to hack a ledger.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, IBM claims their blockchain product is built in a highly auditable way\u00a0to track all of the activity that happens within a network, giving administrators an audit trail in the event something did go awry.<\/p>\n