There Is a Balance Issue In the World of Bug Bounty Programs…
The problem is that, from a business standpoint, the scenario is frequently along the lines of “let’s imagine some evil hacker will suddenly decide to hack us, then — attempt to find information about us, see that we have a bug bounty program, and will send vulnerability there to get legal money.”
There is thus some truth to it, but it does not always work that way and frequently does not aid in preventing hacking…
So what should one do to assist a company that requires protection? Let’s start with some common sense: the bug bounty platform itself has a business interest in our formula…
It’s also crucial to demonstrate to the company that it works hard and is helpful, but how exactly?
The solution is pretty straightforward: build your own community of experts, like in those aforementioned dark forums, so they can identify all vulnerabilities faster because the bug bounty program will draw their attention. I tried to highlight a few basic flaws in my previous article, but I still missed some important ones; if you haven’t already, check it out:
I hope you will enjoy our highly stoichiometric discussion today because I’ll also be letting you know about a promising project called Remedy!
Audits VS Bug-Bounty?..
Looking at this month’s never-ending hacks, one may wonder why they happen so frequently… In the third quarter of 2023 (according to Beosin), for example, $890 million was lost due to various security breaches, phishing scams, and rug pulls.
Have audit firms actually gotten worse at what they do?
This might not be the case, however, it’s obvious that the quality of the auditing services differs dramatically from company to company, so it’s vital for the project to choose the right vendor with an untarnished reputation trusted by the leaders to run its code vulnerability check.
Unlike pen-tests, smart contract audits differ in a few meaningful ways: smart contract audits are performed on open-source applications that are small enough to be manually reviewed in their entirety. They culminate in a report intended to be for both the development team and the community at large.
Typically, audits conclude with clients receiving a report containing auditors’ observations about the security of the system. In many cases, an audit report will highlight security issues discovered while inspecting the project’s codebase and will make recommendations for resolving such issues before releasing an application to the public.
There is also such an awesome thing as a skin-in-the-game auditing mechanism. So, the centralized auditing firms in the skin-in-the-game auditing accept to deposit a portion (30–60%) of their service fee to the projects bug bounty for a period of time (3–12 months) to share the risk after their audit.
If you haven’t already, take a look at my previous article, where I attempted to point out some fundamental flaws but missed some crucial ones:
That said, Web3 bug-bounty programs also can be (and they actually are) an effective way to incentivize the identification and reporting of vulnerabilities in blockchain protocols and decentralized applications.
And the next generation of Web3 security platforms will go beyond current limited solutions, applying advanced tools and technologies and providing superior usability to all industry players!
R.xyz: Revealing True Industry Potential Through the Ultimate Web3 Security Ecosystem
My good friends are about to launch their new project, which in my opinion will be the ultimate game changer for the whole industry. They seek to reshape every aspect of the project’s cybersecurity lifecycle and become a one-stop point for assets and data protection.
I also encourage you to read the following article, which contains a wealth of auditors’ and developers’ useful advice:
The team, which brings together more than 13 years of web2 and web3 experience, is well-positioned to address decentralized security issues. Through innovative tools and training, they hope to strengthen security procedures while encouraging innovation!
Here are just a few of the revolutionary things to be implemented in R.xyz:
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Proof of duplicate;
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Enormous emerge tools with no analogs existing;
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Proper triage and white-hat advocate mechanism.
The project’s team also addresses the industry’s fundamental issues by encouraging transparency, raising standards, and providing guidance.
While details are not yet publicly disclosed, the vision seems impactful to me from insights shared so far. The team demonstrates a deep understanding of the most pressing pain points around security that developers and users face today. Their solutions could provide a welcome relief from those fronts — officercia.eth
This significant project adopts a broad perspective. The R’s team also hopes to build a thorough security ecosystem that will increase web3’s scalability and protection.
To let us know your interests and preferences better, please fill in a short questionnaire!
The team’s goal is to create a comprehensive security ecosystem that will improve web3’s scalability and protection overall. Following this project’s efforts to improve security standards across the developing web3 landscape will be fascinating, check it out and apply for a closed beta:
I’d also like to invite you to monitor their Twitter, Telegram & Discord for updates as the project develops. A stronger, safer web3 that lives up to its full potential will rely on efforts like this one!