4 Critical Steps to Secure Web3

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The data on hacks, scams and exploits is there, and 2022 is already the most expensive year on record for Web3. While 2021 saw losses of $1.3 billion, losses were already $2 billion at the end of June 2022. Extrapolating from these numbers, 2022 is expected to see a 223% increase in the amount lost. because of hacks, scams and exploits compared to 2021. Shocking numbers to say the least.

This will no doubt be disheartening for a Web3 community still struggling to find its footing in a bear market. Times like this require a sober and balanced analysis of how these losses occurred and what the next steps are for anyone working towards mass adoption.

The increase in losses is discouraging, but experience clearly shows what needs to happen for Web3 to gain mass adoption. To do this, it is essential that the community remains lucid about the challenges and opportunities of the current state of affairs: the vulnerabilities of the current ecosystem, what they mean for the current state of the community and the steps which must be crossed. taken to achieve a secure and stable Web3 future. Here are four of the most critical steps:

1. Understand the role of Web2 in Web3 breaches

There was a significant increase in the number of phishing attacks, with an increase of more than 170% compared to the previous quarter. This increase is frustrating for several reasons, not least because phishing attacks should be easily avoided, even naïve investors knowing that promises of too-good-to-be-true gifts from random strangers are likely to be fraudulent.

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However, as phishing attacks have become more sophisticated, even experienced investors have fallen prey to them, with attackers increasingly operating under the guise of authenticity after gaining access to official project accounts on social networks. This has led to phishing attacks which are both more lucrative and have a higher success rate as savvy investors are tricked into following seemingly genuine links.

An example of this is the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) hack that happened in June after a hacker compromised the Discord account of the project's community manager. With access to the BAYC Discord, the hacker posted a link to a copy of the BAYC site which tricked users into connecting their wallets with the promise of free NFTs. In total, more than 200 ETH worth of NFTs were lost in the attack.

The increase in these attacks shows one of the biggest pain points in Web3 security: Web3 projects are becoming dependent on Web2 infrastructure to succeed. As a result, hackers are able to exploit Web2 vulnerabilities to compromise otherwise secure Web3 projects.

This is particularly frustrating for those of us working to secure the Web3 ecosystem because, taken in isolation, the principles of a decentralized architecture that underpin Web3 should make single point of failure and centralization. Watching hackers exploit these vulnerabilities as they occur on social media platforms to unleash arguably the oldest trick in the book of internet attacks is like watching a bank robbery because someone left the backdoor open.

So what can the Web3 community do? First, any Web3 project that relies on Web2 frameworks such as a website marketplace or Discord