Vantage Ventures Entrepreneur Spotlight Series: Blockchain Tech in Cybersecurity
We are extremely fortunate at Vantage Ventures to have a growing community of entrepreneurs who are passionate about making a real and tangible difference. By supporting teams of creative thinkers and problem-solvers — and leveraging the untapped talent and resources that exist in West Virginia — Vantage Ventures aims to build companies across data and IOT, infrastructure, life sciences, and security sectors. This initiative was born out of the John Chambers School of Business and Economics at West Virginia University and serves to launch high-impact, scalable businesses to tackle complex challenges. We are home to a fearless new generation of entrepreneurs.
Today, we feature Vantage Entrepreneur Jacob Lysick, Chief Marketing Officer of OrionBlockSystems, Inc. We are excited to hear how the adoption of blockchain, and the technology and products OrionBlockSystems, Inc. supports, will continue to impact business operations dramatically.
Can you share with us a brief background of OrionBlockSystems, Inc. and what led your team to create it? OrionBlockSystems, Inc. was founded by Mohammad Edaibat, Anthony Bharratt and Michael Backus whom all met each other working at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). After those 3 started on development, Mohammad was on a contract here in Morgantown, WV. He shared an Uber with Chip Gerber, now Orion’s CTO. Chip and I met back in 2015 here in Morgantown WV and started a data recovery business where we began to think of protocols for Blockchain use and security. When Chip and Mohammad met, all that was left was for us to have a dinner and here we are 5 years later.
Blockchain has emerged as an industry disrupter. Many people still view blockchain as this esoteric and far-out technology. Chat with us a bit on some of the main primary areas that OrionBlockSystems, Inc. will revolutionize to provide immense value to users. The emergence of Blockchain has been overwhelmed with the buzzword of “cryptocurrencies.” Understanding this technology and its functionality to alleviate security risk and maintain authenticity is the foundation of our company — to secure national security areas that have been compromised by dated centralized architectures.
Both the global pandemic and, more recently, the war between Russia and Ukraine have brought the threat of cyber-attacks on individuals, businesses, and nations into sharp focus. Statistics show that hackers welcomed that shift and took advantage of the vulnerabilities and gaps in security by businesses. How is OrionBlockSystems, Inc. setting itself apart to circumvent this threat? What separates OrionBlockSystems, Inc. is we are the first to apply biometric hardware into blockchain and are using this architecture to solve cybersecurity and national security issues.
The key to being ready to cope with these threats, wherever they may come from, is preparedness. How does OrionBlockSystems, Inc. set itself apart from the competition? In terms of “competition” there is none, yet. OrionBlockSystems, Inc. is the first, especially here in the USA, to address cybersecurity using blockchain technology and applying that to our hardware (OrionX) using biometrics for authenticity.
OrionBlockSystems, Inc. has developed a unique hardware software solution to authenticate identity. How does your approach differ from solutions currently in the market? What makes our use different of biometrics and our hardware is the functionality of transitioning into blockchain and alleviating the outdated use of centralization. The OrionX will be your key for storage of your Biometrics and RSI, rather than depending on centralization to store your data, which is now compromised within security measures.
How will the rapid move to Web 3.0 impact OrionBlockSystems, Inc.’s go to market strategy with its target customers? The web 3.0 transition will be a crucial piece of our future addressable markets and further technologies being developed.
How is OrionBlockSystems, Inc. making blockchain understandable and usable for developers and end-users? Our product provides security and a platform for authenticity on this newly emerging world of decentralization.
Can you tell us a bit about the people and culture of the OrionBlockSystems, Inc. team? Our corporate culture is very unorthodox in the way we operate. There is no “hierarchy” as we all respect and understand we all wear different hats and that is how we complement each other. As for the team, each one of us represents different ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. It’s amazing and I’m grateful to be sharing the experience with everyone.
Emerging technology and data have the potential to do real good in the world, including solving massive problems like ending the energy crisis, food insecurity, protecting the environment, and curing disease. Touch upon some ways that the deployment of OrionBlockSystems, Inc. blockchain helps solve real-world issues. Our technology has the power to create true equity, transparency, democracy, and trust. As of now, we are in a world of corruption, greed, and distrust as the state of our current technological architecture has allowed bad actors to exist and get away with their behaviors. Blockchain paired with our technology erases these errors of bad acting and can sustain true harmony in the digital world which gives everyone a voice and choice knowing their decisions are guaranteed.