Smart contract vulnerabilities are often caused by human errors, according to Eyal Meron, the co-founder and CEO of Spherex. Common mistakes made by developers include overlooking how every code line affects the contract depending on different states, which criminals often take advantage of. Meron suggests that deploying an exploit prevention solution can help prevent attackers from exploiting these vulnerabilities. However, he acknowledges that most vulnerabilities are inevitable due to the complexity of smart contracts. The collaboration between blockchains and on-chain Security providers can help combat code exploiters and cyber criminals, according to Ariel Tempelhof, chief product officer at Spherex. In an interview with Bitcoin.com News, Meron and Tempelhof discuss the shortcomings of existing smart contract protection solutions, the functionality of Spherex-Protect, and the potential use of transaction blocking or reversing as a censorship tool.
Common Human Errors in Smart Contracts
Meron explains that smart contract vulnerabilities often arise from common mistakes made by developers. One such mistake is overlooking how every code line affects the contract depending on different states, which is almost impossible to detect. Criminals exploit these errors to steal digital assets worth millions of dollars. Meron emphasizes that when users lose funds in such incidents, it affects the entire industry.
Shortcomings of Existing Solutions
Even though smart contracts undergo audits before deployment, the number of exploits has not been reduced. Meron argues that audits are best-effort and not enough to prevent vulnerabilities. Audits are like playing on the attacker’s court, where both parties search for vulnerabilities. However, attackers are more incentivized as the total value locked in the protocol grows, while auditors have limited resources. Meron believes that protocols need to implement asymmetric countermeasures to overcome this challenge.
Introduction to Spherex-Protect
Spherex recently launched an exploit prevention solution called Spherex-Protect. Instead of focusing on detecting errors in code, Spherex-Protect looks at how the protocol operates and ensures that the line of operation remains consistent. The protection is done on-chain, making it verifiable and decentralized. The platform is modular and open, allowing anyone to write protection modules that can be audited and verified by the community.
Distinguishing Legitimate and Suspicious Transactions
Spherex-Protect uses multiple data points accessible from the contract itself to distinguish between malicious and legitimate transactions during execution. This includes gas consumption, storage changes, and input parameters. Once enough data is gathered, a decision is made to allow or revert the transaction. Spherex-Protect has achieved a Blockchain ecosystem becomes increasingly multi-chain, Spherex believes that a security baseline should be implemented for the entire ecosystem. Spherex is already collaborating with blockchains to incorporate chain-wide security countermeasures. Additionally, the presence of bridges connecting different chains introduces vulnerabilities, but Spherex-Protect has proven effective in preventing sophisticated bridge hacks.
Censorship Concerns and Transaction Reversibility
While blockchain transactions are designed to be irreversible, there are concerns about transaction blocking or reverting being used as a censorship tool. However, Spherex-Protect is designed not to be used for censorship. The data points analyzed by the solution are intrinsic to the protocol and not affected by the entity sending the transaction. Attempting to censor transactions would be futile due to the ease of changing addresses on the blockchain.
In conclusion, smart contract vulnerabilities are often caused by human errors, and Spherex-Protect provides an exploit prevention solution to mitigate these vulnerabilities. The existing solutions, such as audits, fall short in preventing vulnerabilities, and protocols need to implement asymmetric countermeasures. Collaboration between blockchains and on-chain security providers is crucial in enhancing smart contract security. While transaction blocking or reversing has potential censorship risks, Spherex-Protect is designed to prevent exploitation rather than censor transactions..
#Protocols #Deploy #Asymmetric #Countermeasures #Counter #Code #Vulnerability #Exploiting #Hackers #Spherex #CEO
Common Human Errors in Smart Contracts
Meron explains that smart contract vulnerabilities often arise from common mistakes made by developers. One such mistake is overlooking how every code line affects the contract depending on different states, which is almost impossible to detect. Criminals exploit these errors to steal digital assets worth millions of dollars. Meron emphasizes that when users lose funds in such incidents, it affects the entire industry.
Shortcomings of Existing Solutions
Even though smart contracts undergo audits before deployment, the number of exploits has not been reduced. Meron argues that audits are best-effort and not enough to prevent vulnerabilities. Audits are like playing on the attacker’s court, where both parties search for vulnerabilities. However, attackers are more incentivized as the total value locked in the protocol grows, while auditors have limited resources. Meron believes that protocols need to implement asymmetric countermeasures to overcome this challenge.
Introduction to Spherex-Protect
Spherex recently launched an exploit prevention solution called Spherex-Protect. Instead of focusing on detecting errors in code, Spherex-Protect looks at how the protocol operates and ensures that the line of operation remains consistent. The protection is done on-chain, making it verifiable and decentralized. The platform is modular and open, allowing anyone to write protection modules that can be audited and verified by the community.
Distinguishing Legitimate and Suspicious Transactions
Spherex-Protect uses multiple data points accessible from the contract itself to distinguish between malicious and legitimate transactions during execution. This includes gas consumption, storage changes, and input parameters. Once enough data is gathered, a decision is made to allow or revert the transaction. Spherex-Protect has achieved a Blockchain ecosystem becomes increasingly multi-chain, Spherex believes that a security baseline should be implemented for the entire ecosystem. Spherex is already collaborating with blockchains to incorporate chain-wide security countermeasures. Additionally, the presence of bridges connecting different chains introduces vulnerabilities, but Spherex-Protect has proven effective in preventing sophisticated bridge hacks.
Censorship Concerns and Transaction Reversibility
While blockchain transactions are designed to be irreversible, there are concerns about transaction blocking or reverting being used as a censorship tool. However, Spherex-Protect is designed not to be used for censorship. The data points analyzed by the solution are intrinsic to the protocol and not affected by the entity sending the transaction. Attempting to censor transactions would be futile due to the ease of changing addresses on the blockchain.
In conclusion, smart contract vulnerabilities are often caused by human errors, and Spherex-Protect provides an exploit prevention solution to mitigate these vulnerabilities. The existing solutions, such as audits, fall short in preventing vulnerabilities, and protocols need to implement asymmetric countermeasures. Collaboration between blockchains and on-chain security providers is crucial in enhancing smart contract security. While transaction blocking or reversing has potential censorship risks, Spherex-Protect is designed to prevent exploitation rather than censor transactions..
#Protocols #Deploy #Asymmetric #Countermeasures #Counter #Code #Vulnerability #Exploiting #Hackers #Spherex #CEO
