What efforts are different companies putting in to enhance the security of Web3?

If you are into the world of decentralized currencies, Web3 is definitely not new. And if statistics mean anything, Precedence Research found its global market size to have reached $2.18 billion in 2023 and anticipated it to reach $65.78 billion in 2032. This is actually a CAGR of about 46% just within those few years. Surprisingly, although these statistics prove Web3’s great potential, Consensys believes that only 8% of individuals consider themselves to be very acquainted with the idea of Web3.

Well, just like any other curious person, you could be wondering why this sector shows potential for significant growth. The answer lies in the benefits we now can enjoy. For instance, the Solana infrastructure ensures your data is secure and censorship-resistant by validating thousands of nodes that operate independently. But with all these benefits comes the question of whether or not the infrastructure is secure enough.

Especially now that cyber criminals are always adopting new techniques to take advantage of users, the need is even more apparent. So, in this article, we will look at how different companies are contributing to this growing concern and what you can expect in the coming days.

Exploring plans by Zircuit

Have you heard of Zircuit, a company seeking to proactively improve blockchain security? Back in 2018, Martin Derka, the company’s founder, joined Quantstamp Company, which helped him become a master in crypto security. It was during this time that Derka realized that rollups would be critical in scaling Ethereum. And that’s how the sequencer level security—what actually differentiates Zircuit—began.

By using AI to simulate transactions, the sequencer assesses each transaction to determine if it is malicious before including it in the block. So, this is what happens: It will receive a transaction and then route it to the Malice Detection module, where the assessment will be done. If the transaction turns out to be benign, it is queued for block inclusion; if it is flagged, it is diverted to the Quarantine-Release Criterion.

At this criterion, the transactions will undergo a rigorous verification process before determining the next course of action. Derka, while praising their last year’s launch of Testnet, which has been stable, confirmed plans to deploy a more secure and robust Mainnet.

The company’s founder highlighted that they were seeking to optimize zero-knowledge proof generation to enhance efficiency as well as reduce operating costs. He further added that security was a top priority for them, and that they wanted to have an infrastructure where both users and developers would interact securely.   

The FBI announcement

All these plans by Zircuit come amid announcements by FBI of impending social engineering attacks by North Korean Hackers. The agency believes that these attacks can compromise even those with high technical acumen – thus the need to be even more vigilant.

Within the six-month duration of their observation, the FBI reported that the hackers were researching various targets related to ETFs. And if your company has large quantities of crypto-related products, you may want to be even more keen.

One of the strategies that these hackers use is to first identify a victim and then incorporate personal details that help them create compelling individualized fake scenarios like offering new employment opportunities. What they might do is try to initiate prolonged conversations with you to build rapport and orchestrate a situation that will prompt you to download the malware. And mark you; this situation will often feel natural and non-alerting.

These attacks are quite different

As he was emphasizing the need to exercise caution, Max Gannon, the team manager of the cyber intelligence team at Cofense, highlighted that these attacks were quite different from the usual APT attacks that often involve single communications without necessarily establishing a sense of authenticity.

Another interesting bit about the North Korean hackers is that they communicate in fluent or nearly fluent English to earn your trust easily. They may also impersonate prominent people or recruitment agencies to further their appeal.

Do you now really see why employee training on cybersecurity is important? Because after the hackers have established rapport, they will go ahead and request employees to download the non-standard applications, which will now expose your company to attacks. Besides the applications, the attackers might request them to run pre-employment tests on GitHub or run a script to enable a call, among many other things.

Part of the FBI’s recommendations to crypto companies was to reduce storing information on internet-enabled devices and implement MFA infrastructures. By the way, do you know that according to Parablu, MFA can actually reduce exposure to attacks by up to 99.9%? On top of these measures, the FBI advised crypto companies – especially those with large crypto stashes – to include measures that prevent devices from downloading and executing code and disabling email attachments.  

Final words

Who wants to participate in an online environment that is not secure? Absolutely no one. Even for crypto investors, online security has become an important factor, with over $1.7 billion stolen last year alone.

But such statistics do not leave us without hope because companies like Zircuit are developing innovative solutions to ensure you participate in a more secure environment. As if that is not enough, government agencies, including the FBI, are also providing security updates that may help crypto companies enhance their security further.