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Immunefi and Ethereum Foundation Collaborate on Crowdsourced Network Audit to Improve Blockchain Security
Blockchain bug bounty platform Immunity and the Ethereum Foundation today announced a partnership to launch a large-scale, crowdsourced collaborative network audit of the Ethereum blockchain protocol called “Attackathon.”
The Attackathon will be the first-ever collaboration that aims to be the largest crowdsourced security audit competition conducted on the Ethereum blockchain protocol code. Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform first launched in 2015 that enables programmable transactions, called smart contracts, that enable a secure execution environment for cryptocurrency, financial applications, supply chain management, gaming, entertainment, and more.
The Ethereum Foundation is a non-profit community of organizations dedicated to promoting the protocol, its development and security, growing the ecosystem, and promoting Ethereum.
Immunefi runs one of the largest Web3 security communities with over 45,000 researchers and protects over $190 billion in user funds across established blockchain projects including Chainlink, Wormhole, MakerDAO, TheGraph, Polygon, and Optimism. Immunefi has paid out some of the largest bug bounties in the software industry, amounting to over $100 million.
The blockchain industry, and Ethereum in particular, is often a target for hackers looking to take advantage of vulnerabilities and exploits in smart contract software running on the blockchain within decentralized applications. The goal of the large-scale audit is to help ensure the ongoing health of the entire project by having multiple contributors examine it for potential vulnerabilities. According to the security research firm SlowMist Mid-Year Report 2024The Ethereum ecosystem lost $400 million due to exploits in the first half of 2024.
The Ethereum blockchain supports a cryptocurrency of the same name. It represents the second largest market capitalization in the blockchain industry with over $367 billion, just behind the Bitcoin blockchain with over $1.125 billion. For comparison, according to SlowMist, the entire blockchain industry has seen over 223 security incidents, resulting in losses of over $1.43 billion. This marks an increase of over 50% year-over-year compared to the $920 million lost in the first half of 2023.
“Ethereum is fundamentally transforming the world as we know it and will continue to do so,” said Mitchell Amador, founder and CEO of Immunefi. “By leveraging our collective security expertise and resources, we aim to ensure the integrity and security of the Ethereum network.”
Immunefi and the Ethereum Foundation have guest the Ethereum community, including ecosystem projects and developers, to sponsor the improvement of the protocol’s security by contributing to the reward pool. This pool, fueled by an initial capital of $500,000 from both parties in a safe deposit boxwill be distributed to Attackathon contest participants based on their contributions as rewards.
The sponsorship program will close and the prize pool will be locked by August 1st, after which the companies will provide further details about the Attackathon.
“[We] “I can’t wait to see what kind of vulnerabilities will emerge!” said Fredrik Svantes, head of protocol security research at the Ethereum Foundation.
Image: Plumage
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