IBM Corp.’s X-Force Red security team, which focuses on hacking software in order to discover and mitigate vulnerabilities, today launched a blockchain testing service.

The new service is designed to help enterprises test and secure their private blockchains. Blockchains are essentially distributed ledgers or databases that use a peer-to-peer network to transfer information using “blocks” and computer nodes.

Blockchain is what underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as well as many other applications. For example, blockchain can also be used to secure and facilitate things such as smart contracts, e-payments, microtransactions, legal services, supply chains and more.

IBM X-Force Red said its new blockchain testing product would help to secure implementations of the fast-growing technology. “Blockchain comes into the tech world with a bit of a different entry point,” the company said. “Its main design point is to build trust and security for the information and processes held within it.”

However, some enterprises wrongly assume that the security blockchain provides extends beyond the technology itself. That’s a big concern, because IBM says that approximately 70 percent of the blockchain implementations it has observed rely on off-ledger systems for processes such as authentication and data processing.

The IBM Blockchain Testing Service, which is available now, works by testing both the ledger and the products based on it, the company said. It will examine aspects including the blockchain code, public key infrastructure, applications, physical hardware and hyperledgers. That includes examining how permissions to add or alter information on the blockchain are managed, looking at password policies and searching for flaws in smart contracts.

“IBM is betting on blockchain as one its future growth drivers and is doubling down with complementary services such as testing,” said Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller. “Testing blockchain isn’t trivial for enterprises, not only from the test flow design but also the test environment perspective.”

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