Secure Paper for Printed Certificates: A Guide To Blockchain Paper®
In 2018, BBC News reported that thousands of UK nationals bought fake degrees from a multi-million-pound diploma mill printing certificates in Pakistan. Amongst the buyers were NHS consultants, nurses, and a large defence contractor.
6 years on, there has been a plethora of news stories bringing light to this exact issue – uncovering individuals who have used fraudulent documents to gain employment. One recent example was a Welsh secondary school teacher, Mr Ferguson who lied about his qualifications from the University of South Wales and faked his DBS record to gain employment at a local school.
Such deceptive institutions publishing fake certificates led to more than 215,000 counterfeit qualifications being sold in 2015 alone. However, the increase in information and intelligent technologies has given individuals the ability to counterfeit their documents, causing a more significant threat to the sector.
Blockchain Paper® secures high-value printed documents such as certificates with the same technology as cryptocurrencies and forms part of 15 advanced certificate security features to create an immutable and genuine security paper for certificates. As a result, this protects individuals and organisations against fraud.
How does this work, and how can Blockchain Paper® protect your degrees and your organisation? Keep reading to learn more.
How can Secure Paper Certificates Prevent Degree Fraud?
Blockchain technology creates encryption in data by providing access keys. Each key is held by separate individuals or institutions who then have access to the data.
In education, this works by guaranteeing that the degree certificate and transcript cannot be counterfeited. In addition, blockchain technology tracks the issuers of the signatures and keeps this information secure in the chain. Therefore, if there is any attempt to tamper with any of the signatures (known as hash), the chain is broken, and the degree document will no longer be valid.
Blockchain Paper® verifies that the certificate paper is genuine and authenticates the issuing university. Critically, this ensures the document’s integrity remains protected and safeguards both the individual certificate holder and the issuing organisation.
Securing Authenticity with Secure Paper
Timestamps are the primary way an institute’s secure degree certificates may be trusted and confirmed as genuine. All information held must be in chronological order of when it became a part of the blockchain.
No one can tamper with or alter information that existed before. Therefore, creating a fake Blockchain Paper® certificate paper is virtually impossible, ensuring the validity of genuine papers and the authenticity of the issuing university.
How Does Certificate Fraud Impact Academic Integrity?
As an educational provider, preserving academic integrity and reliability is paramount. Unfortunately, fake institutions threaten to make the future uncertain for those seeking qualified individuals to hire.
Likewise, students may not attend university if they fear their degree certificate will not qualify as legitimate in the eyes of an employer.
A university’s reputation is key to its success and the success of its students. In 2015, over 300 complaints of fraud led to the shutdown of 85 fraudulent universities in the UK alone. Furthermore, these complaints can lead to further distrust and a lack of faith in the higher education system.
Read our blog to learn more about the impact of certificate fraud on education institutions, students and employers and how to prevent it
Protect Your Reputation with Blockchain Paper®
Stopping qualification fraud is key to having a secure academic reputation. Employers want to know their new hires completed a genuine course of study and gained a valid qualification. Likewise, students want to know their investment in education is dependable and protected.
Advanced Secure Technologies stops fraud with innovative, secure certification technologies and secure certificate printing.
Blockchain Paper® is our latest innovation in secure paper delivering unparalleled certification security combined with intelligent technologies to safeguard the integrity and reputation of qualifications and the issuing organisation.
We care about your document security and protecting your organisation’s academic integrity. To find out more, please get in touch with our Advanced Team or learn more about Blockchain Paper®.
