Security First in a Decentralized World: ZetaChain's Collaborative Approach with Halborn and Chainalysis

In the rapidly evolving landscape of blockchain technology, security stands as a paramount concern. 2022 witnessed a surge in hacking incidents across the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, underscoring the urgent need for robust security measures. In line with this, Halborn and Chainalysis launched a collaborative effort in April 2023 to enhance their safety offering for their enterprise and native Web3 clients. A combination of their solutions ensure that best-in-class security protocols are in place to prevent and recover from attacks.

Halborn is committed to creating a secure web3 world and our partnership with Chainalysis goes a step further in establishing this mission. While Halborn´s expertise is preventative security and smart contract assessments, Chainalysis brings in best-in-class incident response  creating advanced security frameworks, arming web3 projects to stay further ahead of threats. - Steven Walbroehl, CTO @ Halborn

Recognizing the importance of protecting their business and blockchain ecosystem, ZetaChain, a Layer-1 network designed to provide standardized interoperability between networks and allow non-smart contract chains to interact with the broader DeFi ecosystem, has forged a relationship with two industry leaders: Halborn and Chainalysis. This collaboration is geared towards leveraging advanced security solutions and data-driven insights to fortify ZetaChain's platform against potential threats, leveraging Halborn’s best-in-class security assessments and Chainalysis’ Crypto Incident Response offering. 

Halborn’s insights helped us improve the security of our blockchain and Chainalysis’s response capabilities provide peace of mind for our OmniChain operations. - Charlie McCowan, Head of Security @ ZetaChain

The Rise of DeFi Hacks

2022 was the biggest year ever for crypto hacking, with $3.8 billion stolen from cryptocurrency businesses. According to the 2021 Chainalysis Crypto Crime Report, DeFi protocols became the primary target of crypto hackers, and that trend intensified in 2022. 

Last year, DeFi protocols as victims accounted for 82.1% of all cryptocurrency stolen by hackers — a total of $3.1 billion — up from 73.3% in 2021. And of that $3.1 billion, 64% came from cross-chain bridge protocols specifically. Cross-chain bridges are protocols that let users port their cryptocurrency from one blockchain to another, usually by locking the user’s assets into a smart contract on the original chain, and then minting equivalent representations of those assets on the second chain. Bridges are an attractive target for hackers because the smart contracts in effect become huge, centralized repositories of funds backing the assets that have been bridged to the new chain — a more desirable honeypot could scarcely be imagined. 

These breaches not only resulted in significant financial losses but also undermined user confidence in decentralized applications. 

Protected by Chainalysis

Chainalysis launched Crypto Incident Response last June, recognizing a need in the market for added security measures beyond smart contract audits and bug bounties. By utilizing this service, ZetaChain prepares itself before crisis strikes, with our team of expert investigators standing by to help. Crypto Incident Response is a rapid response retainer service used by cryptocurrency businesses and large organizations that are high-risk targets for cyber attacks or unauthorized network intrusions that involve cryptocurrency theft or demand. Chainalysis arms ZetaChain with the expertise and investigative capabilities needed to recover lost funds in the event of an exploit.

Chainalysis investigators have the industry’s most comprehensive, authoritative, and verifiable crypto transaction dataset — one trusted by global regulators and law enforcement for digital asset recovery and prosecution — at their fingertips to track down clients’ stolen funds. They also have a large customer and partner base and, with it, a sizeable network with connections to almost all significant exchanges and services in the crypto space as well as Law Enforcement Agencies around the world, which makes them very efficient in engaging the relevant entities when needed.

Since its founding, Chainalysis has helped crypto organizations recover over $11 billion in stolen funds. Following the launch of last year’s program, Chainalysis has played a role in retrieving roughly $50 million, and 80% of its customers have recovered more in stolen funds than they invested in its services.

Powered by Halborn 

To further bolster their security measures, ZetaChain has partnered with Halborn, the foremost experts on preventative security and end-to-end smart contract assessments. 

Halborn's ongoing support and guidance are instrumental in ensuring that ZetaChain remains resilient against evolving cyber threats. Our expertise in security architecture and research-backed insights provide ZetaChain with a proactive and adaptive security framework. By leveraging Halborn's capabilities, ZetaChain fortified their defences, securing their codebase one step further. 

Enhancing Security Together

ZetaChain has leveraged the combined strengths of Chainalysis and Halborn’s leading solutions. This collaborative approach has allowed ZetaChain to enhance its ability to combat threats and build trust within its ecosystem towards bolstering security in DeFi. 

The comprehensive security measures put in place ensure that ZetaChain remains at the forefront of innovation while safeguarding the interests of its users.

Leveraging Halborn’s cybersecurity expertise and Chainalysis' advanced investigative capabilities and CIR provides ZetaChain with a multi-layered security framework that can adapt to the evolving threat landscape and lead the way in establishing a secure and trustworthy decentralized future.