Decentralizing Internet Security: Interview with Russell Liu, Founder of Deeper Network
Decentralizing Internet Security: Interview with Russell Liu, Founder of Deeper Network
  • Monica Younsoo Chung
  • 승인 2021.03.31 11:50
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2020 was the year of cryptocurrencies. Both institutional and retail investors rushed to diversify their portfolios by investing in their favorite digital currencies. However, what most of the world doesn’t see is the technology that supports cryptocurrencies — blockchain.

In recent years, major corporations from IBM to Microsoft and Alibaba to Intel are implementing blockchain technology. Seemingly, they have a huge role to play in disrupting how we conduct business, transact value, record data, or surf the internet.

To explore more about how blockchains impact our personal lives, KOREA IT TIMES interviewed Russell Liu, the Founder of Deeper Network, a platform using blockchain technology to offer a more secure internet browsing experience.

 

Q1: Hello and welcome to Korea IT Times. Please tell us a little about Network and why people need it?

Thank you. It’s great to be speaking with you.

Internet is a vast space and it is filled with the good things, the bad things, and the terrible ones. As long as the internet is there, there will be cyber threats lurking around the corner. To be straightforward, no one surfing the internet today is safe from hacks and data thefts. 

Businesses that spend millions of dollars on internet security still get hacked and their system is rigged... their data, robbed. Annually, this costs businesses hundreds of billions of dollars on top of the funds they spend on securing the data. Now imagine, when businesses get hacked even after having the best internet security experts with them, how can we say that individual users are safe? They are not. From their mobile phones to their laptops and desktops, everything is at risk.

That’s one problem. The second problem is that the internet is nothing like it was initially envisioned to be. It has become highly centralized and censored. Any government today can ban any website and platform they want.

We want to change that with Deeper Network. We want to ensure an entirely secure internet browsing experience for individual users while also enabling them to access the internet freely, without any restrictions. Our main solution is the Decentralized Private Network, or DPN, which uses blockchain technology to offer the best security solution for users to freely surf the internet.

Q2: That sounds interesting. What are the core elements of Deeper Network that make it unique from other projects?

So, in the most basic language, Deeper Network intends to combine the potential of blockchain to create a sharing economy while also offering network security for end-users. We create a peer-to-peer network that has a self-regulated economic model. Users on the network can share their extra internet bandwidth with other users and enable them to surf the internet without any restrictions. In return, the user who offers the bandwidth gets a reward in the form of our native token $DPR.

You can imagine DeeperConnect as the Lyft or Airbnb of internet security, except the fact that we do not charge any middlemen fee. In fact, Deeper Network is decentralized, meaning, there are no middlemen in the network.

Blockchain allows us to do this. It is a decentralized ledger where multiple users, in the form of nodes, can share their extra bandwidth with other users without the need of a middleman.

All this is put together in place through our hardware device called DeeperConnect. It lays the foundation of a more sovereign, secure, and trustworthy internet. However, at a later stage, users may not even need the hardware to access the bandwidth. It will all be possible using a software application.

Q3: You also mentioned DPN earlier. Can you explain how it works and how is it any different from VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks?

Of course. Decentralized Private Network, or DPN, is another one of our security solutions for our users. 

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for internet security solutions such as VPN shot to an all-time high. The work-from-home requirements motivated people to pay attention to their internet security. And we must say that VPN has served the users quite well so far.

VPNs allow users to go undetected on the internet and on public WiFi networks such as on the WiFi network of a restaurant. But the problem with VPNs is that they are centralized and operate on a central server which can itself be attacked.

Deeper Network’s DPN, on the other hand, is based on a blockchain network, making it a completely decentralized private network. It operates like VPNs and helps route any internet user’s traffic through an encrypted tunnel hoster over a blockchain network. This encryption over a blockchain not only offers true anonymity to users but also makes it nearly impossible to attack the network securing the user.

Q4: What is your opinion of Web3.0 and will people still need VPNs or DPNs when Web3.0 is fully here?

When the internet first started going mainstream, the vision was never to make it centralized so governments or other central bodies could exercise their control over it. But the more we went forward Web2.0, the more centralized it became.

I think Web3.0 is the change that’s long overdue for the internet. As I see it, Web3.0 will make it as decentralized as its pioneers first wanted it to be. Thanks to the invention of blockchain technology that we now have the right infrastructure to support a decentralized web.

Web3.0 will be a revolution in itself. It will be truly free, democratic, and built for the people. In fact, at Deeper Network, we have foundational infrastructure services for Web3.0. Dubbed decentralized DNS (domain name system) and decentralized CDN (content delivery network), our solutions will ensure that domains and the network used to deliver content to users are completely decentralized. This will mean that no third party can ever censor the platforms built on Web3.0.

Regarding the usability of DPNs on Web3.0, I’ll say that while the internet will be more democratic with the advent of Web3.0, there will still be cyber threats. So, I can’t think of a reason why users will not want to use DPNs on Web3.0 as well.

Q5: Do you think there will be any challenges in fulfilling your vision?

Yes, certainly. We think governments, as well as tech giants, may not take our move gently because centralization makes them more powerful. But as our network is totally decentralized, no one can actually take it down or ban it.

We are currently only focused on helping people understand the value of decentralized private networks and why they need to immediately start safeguarding their internet activities. As long as we can do that, we can be at peace that we did our part in creating a more secure and democratic internet.

Q6: How long do you think we’ll have to wait for Web3.0 to become a mainstream phenomenon?

Answer: Not very long, I’ll say. The term “Web2.0” was first used around 2004. In less than a decade, a majority of the world had access to it. If you think that’s a long time, let me remind you that smartphones and computers were still not very common back then. But today, from kids to those in the 90s, everyone knows how to surf the internet on their mobile phones and laptops.

Web3.0 is not too far behind. We already have all the infrastructure in place and the device that can help us access it. Many organizations like ours are working on applications and solutions for Web3.0.

One of the biggest parts of Web3.0 right now is decentralized finance, which is a suite of financial services that are not controlled by banks or financial institutions but by all common people like you and me.

Sooner than you may imagine, you’ll start seeing people using platforms such as social media and media streaming websites built over Web3.0. And I can confidently say that when that happens, Deeper Network and its solutions will be a huge part of it.
 


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