A New Cyber-Alliance of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Blockchain, and Edge Computing

The world is witnessing an accelerated large-scale technology adoption with transformative effects on day-to-day operations, with many industries now depending on machine-controlled processes. These technologies include blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and edge computing (EC). Although a lot of resources have been used to secure these technologies, persistent cyber threats result in major drawbacks, and applications must be designed with utmost precaution considering threats against known and unknown vulnerabilities. However, the vulnerabilities do not apply equally across all four technologies, and research shows that weaknesses in one platform can potentially be overcome by converging two or more. While blockchain offers enhanced distributed security, AI offers efficiency on blockchain ledgers, IoT provides much-needed data input to AI, and EC provides all platforms with reduced latency. Traditionally, these have been implemented in silos or perhaps in combinations of two. This article explores the possibility of addressing cybersecurity concerns through a complete alliance of the four technologies. We examine the correlation and expediency of integrating blockchain, AI, IoT, and EC, and how the consolidation could provide new levels of cyber safety.