The digital currency landscape continuously evolves, with new technologies and platforms emerging regularly. However, this progress is not without its challenges, particularly in security. A recent study by the blockchain security firm Immunefi sheds light on the vulnerabilities within the Web3 ecosystem, mainly focusing on the significant impact of Web2 security issues.
The Pervasive Influence of Web2 Vulnerabilities in Web3 Exploits
Web3 uses blockchain technology, representing the new internet services and applications era. Despite its advanced infrastructure, it’s not immune to security breaches. Immunefi’s report, published on November 15, reveals a startling statistic: nearly half of all cryptocurrency losses from Web3 exploits in 2022 stemmed from Web2 security issues. These aren’t issues inherent in Web3’s blockchain technology but are instead linked to more traditional digital security problems.
Immunefi categorizes these security lapses into various types. Interestingly, Web2 vulnerabilities constitute 26.56% of the issues when assessing the total number of Web3 incidents, ranking them the second-largest category. This discrepancy between the value lost and the frequency of incidents underscores the severity of Web2 vulnerabilities when exploited.
Infrastructure Weaknesses: A Significant Threat
A deeper dive into the report reveals that infrastructure weaknesses play a substantial role. These vulnerabilities arise from several factors, such as employees mishandling private keys, inadequate passphrase protection, and flaws in two-factor authentication. These issues led to the most significant financial losses among all categories, surpassing even cryptographic errors.
Cryptographic issues, while less financially damaging than infrastructure weaknesses, still accounted for 20.58% of the total value lost in 2022. These issues include complex technical flaws like Merkle tree errors and predictable random number generation. Although less frequent, they still pose a significant risk.
Another critical vulnerability the report highlights is access control and input validation. Although these issues resulted in a smaller percentage of the total value lost (4.62%), they were the most frequent cause of incidents, accounting for 30.47% of all cases.
Disclaimer
Please note that the information provided on this page is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice. It is important to only invest what you can afford to lose and to seek independent financial advice if you have any doubts. For further information, we suggest referring to the terms and conditions as well as the help and support pages provided by the issuer or advertiser. CryptoMode is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice.
