Blockchain

14.03.2017
Falk Krämer

The mathematician Farkas Bolyai stated in 1823, “…that some things have an epoch, as it were, where they are found in several places, just as in spring the violets emerge more towards the light.”

The topic Blockchain showed us how promptly ideas sometimes develop. The term is currently experiencing a little hype in the relevant media, which prompted me to do some research.

For the Collax E-Mail Archive a mechanism is necessary to protect the archived emails from changes. To ensure the unchangeability, we chain all emails in the archive. Each email is archived together with a qualified signature of the email stored immediately before and its signature. Without breaking the chain, no email can be added or removed afterwards.

By now we know this is a blockchain. Although the term has not yet been explicitly mentioned, the paper on Bitcoins is considered pioneering for the blockchain.

I was surprised by the duplicity of the events. The paper was published in October 2008. Our new module Collax E-Mail Archive has the release date 23.10.2008.

Continuing

[1] http://www.computerwoche.de/a/blockchain-was-ist-das,3227284

[2] https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Logistikriese-Maersk-experimentiert-mit-Blockchain-zur-Gueter-Verfolgung-3646860.html

[3] http://www.security-insider.de/blockchains-wichtig-aber-bald-kaum-noch-im-gespraech-a-544408/