CertiK CEO says security audits are a must to avoid cryptohacks

IoTeX has not seen one security breach since inception thanks not only to its team of scientists, expert cybersecurity and cryptographers, but also to its long-term partnership with CertiK, said their CEO and Founder

Ronghui Gu, CertiK CEO and Founder, suggested many of the crypto hacks that to date total nearly $2 billion could have been avoided if blockchain projects carried out security audits before launches and releases.

Gu pointed out blockchain firms and startups’ risks when not taking security seriously. «You must think that small contracts become more and more complex. One single failure or bug can lead to more and more financial losses,» he added.

Leaked data could be more seriously damaging than money being stolen. In many instances, assets can be recovered, while data cannot. So while security services are expensive, more expensive are the financial risks, Gu said.

The statements by Gu were part of a conversation with Larry Pang, Head of Business Development at IoTeX, CertiK’s partner since 2018.

«In 2020, more than $500 million were lost to software bugs in the space. Last year, that number almost tripled. $1.3 billion was also hacked in the crypto space due to software bugs. And in the first six months of this year, $1.8 billion has been stolen,» Gu said.

Security auditing is a must-have

Pang recalled that the IoTeX-CertiK partnership began in 2018 «with the launch of our first staking contract and since then CertiK has become the IoTeX ecosystem audit partner.» IoTeX has not suffered a security breach since its founding in 2017.

The fact that the US Navy is leveraging IoTeX’s blockchain for a health network to monitor its 700,000 marines and sailors in real-time is evidence of its platform’s security. The United States Navy granted Consensus Network $1.5 million to build the wide-ranging healthnet.

«Yes, we became IoTeX’s security partner four years ago, during the last crypto winter,» said Gu. «Many things have changed. Security auditing and third-party services are a must-have rather than better to have.»

CertiK is arguably the most prominent blockchain security services firm. The CEO and Founder Ronghui Gu said his firm currently boasts over 3,500 clients and secures more than $300 billion worth of cryptocurrency assets.

MachineFi represents new challenges

IoTeX’s MachineFi web3 infrastructure represents a new, groundbreaking, unprecedented era. An era in which for the first time, billions of users can own their data and control and interact with their smart devices and machines and benefit from the trillion-dollar machine-sharing economy. But onchain information presents unique and significant challenges.

They also spoke of the significant web3 opportunity MachineFi represents and how connecting billions of real-world devices to web3 opens up more attack vectors.

However, these are challenges that CertiK and IoTeX will successfully face as they have all previous security needs and requirements since 2018 when their partnership began, both Pang and Gu noted..

Pang touched on how critical data is for MachineFi. «IoTeX is pioneering this new design space for real-world applications» that depend on user and users’ machine data. «This could be your genomic data or your driving data,» to give a few examples.

«If we put our data on-chain —something that is now a trend that many are currently exploring— and it is leaked, that is going to be more serious than leaking money for many people, especially for the masses,» said Gu.

A big plan for machine-sharing infrastructure

Gu recognized that «IoTeX has a pretty big plan for MachineFi, and they are building the infrastructure to (fulfill) the web3 potential for (decentralized) applications,» said Gu, assuring that CertiK will continue helping to secure the IoTeX and MachineFi systems.

«One of our duties is to audit the design of protocol systems and the implementation. In many cases, there are gaps, but we find them» to ensure the design and implementation are consistently bug-free, Gu said, adding that this is very important for investors.

Pang said IoTeX is pioneering the web3 technology architecture design space for real-world applications. With the imminent release of W3bstream, all these web3 applications or dApps will come to life, enabling millions of people to connect billions of intelligent devices and machines to the MachineFi platform, where one of the most robust rewards economies will exist.

An amazing web3 infrastructure

Recently, Samsung Next Managing Director Raymond Liao said MachineFi Lab, IoTeX’s core developer, has built an «amazing Web3 infrastructure» with significant market and commercial potential. His firm led MachineFi Lab’s $10 million seed round, which included other prominent firms such as Draper Dragon, IOSG Ventures, Escape Velocity, Jump Crypto, and Crypto.com.

Machine economies are massive networks of devices owned by individuals or groups that act as autonomous market participants by providing either data access, resources, or actuation in exchange for payment, wrote Samsung Next in a blog entitled «Why we Invested in MachineFi, connecting the real world to Web3.» Historically, these networks have failed to garner traction due to the infrastructure and capital requirements needed to operationalize them.

«But now, MachineFi Lab is harnessing the power of blockchain with an end-to-end solution to distribute, orchestrate, and monetize large numbers of IoT devices as part of a unified machine network. The MachineFi platform is built to enable developers to connect billions of machines with web3 infrastructure,» the blog adds. «By joining the machine economy, people can monetize their devices and associated digital assets on a global scale.»

Several IoTeX seed round participants agree that MachineFi Lab will help bring the next major wave of new people into crypto, an objective all blockchain projects are struggling to achieve.

«What we look for are companies that will help bring the next wave of people into the crypto economy,» said Draper Dragon Senior Associate Kavan Canekeratne. «IoTeX fits really well into what we are looking for but also just like an actual concrete use case for web3 and crypto because data is super important.»

IoTeX has built a unique blockchain network and data oracle to make possible a machine economy that will benefit users over corporations. As Canekeratne said, MachineFi Lab will become more relevant as global user data ownership is «only going to grow in importance in the coming years.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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