Data integrity and security: Blockchain vs. traditional databases

Abstract

The thesis will provide a comparative between the data integrity and security provided by a blockchain technology and a traditional relational database, with an emphasis on RBAC. As organizations are becoming more dependent on secure and reliable data systems, it becomes important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of both these paradigms. For decades, structured data has been stored in traditional databases, which has established a mature access control model and transaction integrity using ACID principles. Unlike other options, blockchain has a decentralized architecture which is immutable, transparent and tamper-proof. The study combines theoretical analysis (60%) with practical case studies (40%) to evaluate how each system handles data protection, unauthorized access prevention, and RBAC implementation. Real-world security incidents, such as the Poly Network and Capital One breaches, are analysed to highlight vulnerabilities and mitigation strategies across both technologies. While blockchain excels in auditability and tamper resistance, it presents challenges in access control flexibility and scalability. Traditional databases, on the other hand, offer performance efficiency and fine-grained RBAC but are more susceptible to centralized failures and insider threats. The organizations should focus on security and other operations for deciding whether to choose a blockchain or traditional database, as shown by the results. Ethical and regulatory concerns, including GDPR compliance, must also be considered. This research offers recommendations and suggestions for policymakers to assess secure data management systems in modern organizations. Keywords Blockchain, Traditional Databases, Data Integrity, Security, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). Pages 48 pages and appendices 1 page