IBM has launched an operational version of its in-house security testing tool for blockchain solutions, the company confirmed in a press release on March 5.

IBM Security’s X-Force Red, the firm’s dedicated security task force, released the X-Force Red Blockchain Testing service in order to tackle remaining inefficiencies in enterprise blockchain deployments.

“IBM X-Force Red is seeing that 70 percent of solutions that incorporate blockchain rely on traditional technologies for backend processes like authentication, data processing and Application Programming Interfaces (API),” the press release explains, adding:

“The X-Force Red Blockchain Testing service will evaluate the whole implementation including chain code, public key infrastructure and hyperledgers. X-Force Red will also test backend processes, applications and physical hardware used to control access and manage blockchain networks.”

Despite recent criticism from within the blockchain industry, enterprise blockchain has enjoyed significant growth in recent years, with IBM noting the industry could be worth almost $10 billion by 2021.

For the technology to gain prestige, however, security must be watertight.

“While blockchain is a breakthrough for protecting the integrity of data, that does not mean the solutions that leverage it are immune from attackers, which is why security testing is essential during development and after deployment," IBM X-Force Red’s global head, Charles Henderson, added.

The product offering will tackle areas such as identity and access of enterprise blockchain networks, as well as teething problems such as smart contract flaws.

The company’s own IBM Blockchain suite of tools has also seen wide uptake, in addition to partnerships, which this week continued in the form of a multi-bank implementation in Japan.