I. Smart Contract Security Audit
Smart Contract Security Audit or Smart Contract Audit is the process of evaluating, commenting and checking based on the smart contract code of that project. Often these contracts will be programmed in the Solidity programming language and made available via GitHub. This verification is extremely important for DeFi projects and is used by these projects to process Blockchain transactions with a value of millions of dollars or a large number of users.
For crypto users, it is essential that the smart contract of the project has been tested or not before making a decision to invest in a new DeFi project. When the verification is done, it will be a proof that the project is working seriously and the smart contract verification service providers are also seen as the industry leader. Thanks to these tests, the project becomes more reliable in the eyes of investors.
II. Steps to Smart Contract Security Audit
Companies often come up with their own accreditation standards, and this may vary slightly, but the basic steps will include the following steps:
- Determine the scope to be inspected
The specifications and smart contracts are defined by the project with the intended purpose, the overall architecture. Through the specification will help the testing team better understand the information when using and writing code.
- Give an initial quote based on the work needed
- Run test tests, according to their analysis methods and tools; will usually include both manual and automatic.
- Create a first draft with the bugs found and then give it to the project team for further corrections and feedback.
- Provide a final report, looking at what actions were taken by the team to address the issues raised.
III. Smart Contract Security Audit options
Gas efficiency
Not only focusing on Blockchain security, but the testing team also evaluates the optimization and efficiency in executing complex transactions thereby completing the expected functions.
The gas on the Ethereum Blockchain network is relatively high, and efficient contracts will be able to save more transaction costs for users. Through which it is possible to evaluate the developer’s skills; Avoid points of failure. Gas fees are so high that smart contracts cannot execute and sometimes more than the low gas limit is used.
Potential Vulnerability
Most of the audits involve checking contracts and finding security holes. Many exploits related to withdrawal strategies and techniques; such as market manipulation with weak smart contracts during flash loan attacks. The testers will conduct simulations and break tests from the attack on the smart contract, including 6 basic vulnerabilities:
Reentrancy issues: when a smart contract makes an external call to another party contract before any impact is made; External contracts may interact in ways that are not possible because the balance of the original contract has not been updated.
Integer overflow: when executing a smart contract math, however, the output is out of storage (18 decimal places) which will lead to incorrect amount calculation.
Opportunity to run first: invalid initial code structure will lead to advance information about market transactions; make it possible for others to use information and transactions for their own benefit.
IV. Platform security flaws
Tests often include looking at the network hosting the contracts and even the API used in DApp interaction. When a project is attacked by a DDoS attack or a website UI compromise, users run the risk of connecting their wallets to malicious Blockchain applications.
V. What is an inspection report?
This is the report that is issued at the end of the audit. To ensure transparency, these projects are expected to share the information in their reports with the community. The report will be classified according to the level of severity (critical), major (major), minor (minor)… and list the status of the problem as well as the time to resolve before releasing the final report.
In addition to the summary, a standard report will include recommendations such as redundant code and detailed analysis of where coding errors exist. The project will have time to correct the findings in the report before the final version is released.
VI. Where can users see the smart contract test results of the projects?
A few famous names for the project’s smart contract verification service are:
It is one of the industry leaders when it comes to smart contract testing and audits hundreds of projects, such as PancakeSwap. CertiK also generates a ranking of tested projects and allows you to compare the safety metrics of each project. CertiK audits projects on Ethereum and Polygon.
This is one of the big names in the cryptocurrency development industry, run by Joseph Lubin – co-founder of Ethereum ConsenSys. The company offers smart contract verification services for the Ethereum Blockchain and automated services that check Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) contracts for common errors.
Quantstamp
Website: https://quantstamp.com/
On their homepage, Quantstamp says that their mission is to protect the decentralized internet, and so far they have protected more than $8 billion in digital assets from hackers. hackers. More than 170 startups, funds, and businesses have partnered with Quantstamp to protect their products.
Quantstamp also provides a team of security assessors and a 24/7 security monitoring software for Blockchain projects.
Some of Quantstamp’s big customers include: Ethereum 2.0, Binance, The Graph, Maker, Matic, Kava, Curve, etc.
Openzeppelin
Website: https://openzeppelin.com/
Openzeppelin was founded in 2015, Openzeppelin has set itself the industry standard for building secure distributed systems.
They build tools for developers and perform security testing for distributed systems, to provide strength against hackers and their execution failures.
Some of Openzeppelin’s customers: Brave, Cosmos, Compound, Status, Osimgo,etc.
Trail of Bits
Website: https://www.trailofbits.com/
Trail of Bits is a network of developers capable of identifying and fixing loopholes in code, software, and devices. In other words, Trail of Bits provides solutions for software security services including smart contract auditing, blockchain security research, software development, and more.
For many years, Trail of Bits has developed very good security tools for smart contracts. Some of these blockchain-centric solutions are Crytic, Slither, and Echidna. In addition, Trail of Bits has grown the popular AlgoVPN.
Trail of Bits also features numerous security publications on GitHub, including public reports for 0x Protocol, Compound, NuCypher, and MakerDAO.
Smart contract verification cost
This number is determined based on the number of smart contracts to be tested and will be in the thousands of USD. Each large project can cost up to 10,000 USD per audit. The reputation of the inspection company also affects how much you need to pay.
Conclusion
At the moment, many projects virtually always require smart contract security audit. Of course, once a project has passed all of the tests, the findings are no longer a reliable gauge of its worth. It is crucial that you read the audit yourself because of this.
The reviews and the seriousness of potential issues should be examined even if you lack technical expertise because reports are unquestionably valuable to everyone.
After reading this post, hopefully you will have a better understanding of what smart contract testing involves. Make sure to carefully analyze the facts and conditions before making an investment decision.
Another article that we recommend about an important technology in Blockchain: https://metalionventures.com/what-is-a-zero-knowledge-proof-zkp/
