Korean telecom giant KT announced last week the launch of its 5G-based blockchain brand, GiGA Chain, and related services.

GiGA Chain aims to improve cyber security and prevent cyberattacks on connected devices.

This is mostly about the Internet of Things, or IoT.

The advent of 5G technology, with its dramatically improved connectivity, could usher in the age of IoT, a world where everyday products – be them home appliances, cars or even wearable devices – communicate and interact with one another through the internet using sensors, wireless networks and other communications.

The IoT might very well improve our quality of life in significant ways, but the ubiquitous connections – ubiquitous connections to physical objects like our cars and home appliances, no less – present something of a security nightmare. How do you connect everything you own to the internet while keeping hackers and other malevolent actors out at the same time?

Enter blockchain. As CoinTelegraph writes:

“Smart contracts in blockchain networks will allow devices to function securely and autonomously by creating agreements that are only executed upon completion of specific requirements. It not only allows for greater automation, scalability and cheaper transfers (no third-party needed to oversee transactions) but these smart contracts can also prevent overrides by individuals that want to use the data for their own benefit. Information is shared across a decentralized, cryptographically secured network, meaning it becomes very difficult to compromise the network security.”

KT’s GiGA Chain uses blockchain technology to secure the IoT ecosystem. In particular, KT’s GiGA Stealth product hides the IP addresses of connected devices, making them invisible to would-be hackers, voyeurs and other people you want to keep out of your toaster.

“The IoT devices have IP addresses, so hackers can easily find the addresses of these devices on search engines such as Shodan,” KT senior Vice President Seo Young-il told the Korea Times. Seo is also head of KT’s blockchain center. “The GiGA Stealth technology makes the devices virtually invisible by masking their IP addresses.”

KT also introduced GiGA Chain BaaS (Blockchain as a Service), a platform that makes it easier for enterprises and other organizations to use blockchain technology. KT is also developing its own local cryptocurrency, a trial version of which for the Seoul suburb of Gimpo was unveiled last week.