Our digital infrastructure is becoming more vulnerable. A single cyberattack on Ticketmaster exposed data from over 500 million customers. Chinese state-affiliated hackers secretly accessed email accounts at approximately twenty-five organizations, including the U.S. Commerce and State Departments. These incidents are not merely breaches of personal data; they are attacks on our national security.
Hostile nations and organized cybercrime groups exploit our vulnerabilities to steal sensitive information, undermine our critical infrastructure, and ultimately destabilize our society. The increased adoption of financial technology services such as digital wallets, peer-to-peer payments, and on-demand credit—many of which operate outside the strict regulatory frameworks of traditional financial institutions—means that every stolen identity and every data breach can potentially be weaponized against the United States.
Digital identity technologies such as Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) offer a promising approach to addressing this threat. By leveraging decentralized blockchains, DIDs allow individuals to limit access to their personal identifying information (PII) instead of handing it over to third parties every time they make an online transaction. This means personal information is no longer held on third-party servers susceptible to hacking. Similarly, Compliance-backed Verifiable Credentials (CVCs) act as secure digital badges capable of validating whether the information someone presents—i.e., an individual’s age, address, nationality, or licensed professional qualification—has been verified through rigorous due diligence processes.
