Renowned cybersecurity expert Samczsun, operating under a pseudonym, has founded a fresh alliance of white-hat hackers dedicated to shielding cryptocurrency projects from the escalating threats of cyber assaults.
Samczsun, employed at the digital-asset investment firm Paradigm, christened the initiative Security Alliance and established it as a non-profit organization. Across the industry, numerous developers and cryptocurrency figures have lauded this endeavor on various social media platforms.
The Security Alliance has garnered over $1 million in funding from cryptocurrency investors and enterprises, counting contributions from Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto division, Electric Capital, Paradigm, and significant industry entities such as the Ethereum Foundation. Noteworthy is the $500,000 donation made by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to the alliance.
Ethical hackers, often referred to as white-hat hackers, scrutinize the code of various projects to uncover and report vulnerabilities and bugs to their creators, typically receiving compensation for their efforts.
Many individuals, including Samczsun, choose to remain anonymous due to concerns about potential retaliation from malicious hackers after disclosing security flaws. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, cyberattacks resulted in approximately $1.7 billion in theft from cryptocurrency ventures in 2023.
In a social media post, Samczsun underscored the challenges faced by cybersecurity professionals during the 2022 breach of the Nomad crypto communication protocol. Numerous experts refrained from assisting due to cautionary guidance from their employers.
The Nomad incident stood out due to its prolonged duration, spanning several hours, which allowed multiple attackers to replicate the initial breach and exploit a vulnerability, ultimately resulting in nearly $200 million in theft. Samczsun believes that the involvement of white-hat hackers could have significantly mitigated the loss.
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