Blockchains and the decentralized economy have been rightfully praised for bringing inclusion, immutability, and unparalleled network security to finance. However, the track record of consumer protection and transactional security has so far left a lot to be desired. Systems built around blockchains such as borrowing, generating passive income, staking, and NFTs can still be vulnerable to attack or exploitation.
This was the tweet from the Poly Network on August 10, confirming that more than $610 million was drained from their protocol, making this the largest known DeFi hack in history. By the time that the exploit was flagged, Poly was unfortunately unable to take intervening action to prevent the loss. The price of Poly Network (POLY) plummeted following news of the loss. It’s important to note that the exploit that led to this loss was carried out on 184 blocks on the blockchain, over roughly 40 minutes. Detecting the first suspicious transaction would have been key to mitigating the ultimate damage.
Over $1.2 billion in cryptocurrencies have been lost to hacks and exploits in 2021 so far. According to Poly, it took only a few hours to identify and completely patch the vulnerabilities that led to the attack described above. In common with the vast majority of major DeFi losses, the unfortunate events of August 10th were not the result of a major flaw in blockchain technology or a globally coordinated super-hack, but rather just some minor cracks in the systems that consumers use to interact with decentralized protocols.
Unfortunately, runtime security was not available to alert and mitigate hacks like those suffered by Poly Network, Indexed, and others – until now. Forta is now live and available for everyone.
Satoshi may be perfect, but as investors, developers, and fans of his idea of blockchain – we are not. The explosion of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts has provided opportunity for millions, but has also consistently proven that all of the non-Satoshi developers are neither perfect nor omniscient. Runtime smart contract security is not just a good idea, but vital to protecting digital assets and assuring fans new and old that the decentralized economy is a safe place for them to be.Learn more about how Forta smart contract security could have prevented the Poly Network hack, and can help protect your investments in the future at Forta.org.
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Source: Cryptocurrency - investing.com
