Using blockchain technology for monitoring business processes in ERP systems

Abstract

Database protection is one of the most difficult tasks facing the departments responsible for ensuring information security. On the one hand, to work with the database, it is necessary to provide access to data to all employees who, on duty, must collect, process, store and transfer confidential data. On the other hand, the expansion of databases does not always have a centralized architecture, and therefore the actions of violators are becoming more sophisticated. Thus, there is no clear and precise methodology for a comprehensive solution to the problem of protecting databases that could be applied in all cases; in each specific situation, an individual approach has to be found. Blockchain technology can solve some of these problems. The purpose of the study was to show the possibilities of blockchain technology for tracking possible external and internal attacks on Control Systems and their databases. It is proposed to combine and blockchain-based hashing methods in alphanumeric format and explore its application in tracking and monitoring the sequence of business process transactions in ERP systems. A cyber attack on transaction data in ERP systems will immediately affect the root of the Merkle tree, which can serve as a signal that the system has been hacked. We show that blockchain, considered one of the most disruptive technologies in various industries, certainly has the potential to apply and ensure the security of enterprise management systems in the ERP format.