Centralized knowledge networks, ones which are owned and/or managed by a single entity, have been structurally damaged for years. Why? Single factors of failure. If one entity (or perhaps a few) has entry to a database, then there is just one “level” to compromise with a purpose to acquire full entry. It is a significant issue for networks holding delicate knowledge like buyer info, authorities information, and monetary information, and people with management of infrastructure like energy grids.
Billions of digital information have been stolen in 2024 alone, inflicting an estimated $10 trillion in damages! Notable breaches embody almost all of AT&T’s buyer info and name logs, half of America’s private well being info, 700 million end-user information from corporations utilizing Snowflake, 10 billion distinctive passwords saved on RockYou24, and Social Safety information for 300 million Individuals.

Supply: Statista, 2024
This isn’t only a non-public sector challenge — governments and essential nationwide infrastructure additionally depend on centralized networks. Notable current breaches embody information on 22 million Individuals stolen from the U.S. Workplace of Personnel Administration, delicate authorities communications from a number of U.S. federal companies, private biometric knowledge on 1.1 billion Indian residents, and the continuing Chinese language infiltration of a number of U.S. web service suppliers.
Though a whole lot of billions of {dollars} are spent annually on cyber safety, knowledge breaches are getting bigger and occurring extra continuously. It’s grow to be clear that incremental merchandise can not repair these community vulnerabilities — the infrastructure have to be fully rearchitected.

Supply: market.us, 2024
AI magnifies the problem
Latest developments in generative AI have made it simpler to automate on a regular basis duties and improve work productiveness. However essentially the most helpful and helpful AI purposes require context, i.e. entry to delicate consumer well being, monetary, and private info. As a result of these AI fashions additionally require large computing energy, they largely can’t run on client units (laptop, cellular), and as a substitute should entry public cloud networks, like AWS, to course of extra advanced inference requests. Given the intense limitations inherent in centralized networks illustrated earlier, the shortcoming to securely join delicate consumer knowledge with cloud AI has grow to be a big hurdle for adoption.
Even Apple pointed this out throughout their announcement for Apple Intelligence earlier this 12 months, stating the necessity to have the ability to enlist assist from bigger, extra advanced fashions within the cloud and the way the standard cloud mannequin isn’t viable anymore.
They title three particular causes:
- Privateness and safety verification: Suppliers’ claims, like not logging consumer knowledge, usually lack transparency and enforcement. Service updates or infrastructure troubleshooting can inadvertently log delicate knowledge.
- Runtime lacks transparency: Suppliers not often disclose software program particulars, and customers can not confirm if the service runs unmodified or detect adjustments, even with open-source instruments.
- Single level of failure: Directors require high-level entry for upkeep, risking unintended knowledge publicity or abuse by attackers focusing on these privileged interfaces.
Fortuitously, Web3 cloud platforms supply the proper answer.
Blockchain-Orchestrated Confidential Cloud (BOCC)
BOCC networks are like AWS — besides constructed fully on confidential {hardware} and ruled by sensible contracts. Although nonetheless early days, this infrastructure has been in improvement for years and is lastly beginning to onboard Web3 tasks and Web2 enterprise prospects. The most effective instance of this structure is Tremendous Protocol, an off-chain enterprise-grade cloud platform managed fully by on-chain sensible contracts and constructed on trustless execution environments (TEEs). These are safe {hardware} enclaves that preserve code and knowledge verifiably confidential and safe.

Supply: Tremendous Protocol
The implications of this expertise handle all of Apple’s issues famous earlier:
- Privateness and safety verification: With public sensible contracts orchestrating the community, customers can confirm whether or not consumer knowledge was transported and used as promised.
- Workload and program transparency: The community additionally verifies the work finished throughout the confidential TEEs, cryptographically proving the proper {hardware}, knowledge, and software program have been used, and that the output wasn’t tampered with. This info can also be submitted on-chain for all to audit.
- Single level of failure: Community sources (knowledge, software program, {hardware}) are solely accessible by the proprietor’s non-public key. Subsequently, even when one consumer is compromised, solely that consumer’s sources are in danger.
Whereas cloud AI represents an unlimited alternative for Web3 to disrupt, BOCCs may be utilized to any kind of centralized knowledge community (energy grid, digital voting infrastructure, army IT, and so forth.), to supply superior and verifiable privateness and safety, with out sacrificing efficiency or latency. Our digital infrastructure has by no means been extra weak, however blockchain-orchestration can repair it.