Newsletter #54

This week in Forta! Decoding Forta alert data with LLMs. The state of on-chain scams in 2024. DirtyBlocks reports live on Ethmainnet health. Reexamining the root of on-chain hacks: malicious funding.

Decoding Forta alert data with LLMs. Machine learning applications in Web3 cybersecurity are plentiful, but how helpful are LLMs? Forta researchers are using LLMs to contextualize complex alert metadata, turning raw data into the who, what, where, and 'how much $' of any hack. Check out the blog to see exactly how alerts can be decoded and understand the downstream effects of democratizing access to complex on-chain data.

The state of on-chain scams in 2024. Forta researchers have revealed that scammers swindled $298 million (12,555 ETH), directing over $10 million in stolen funds to Binance CEX wallets. This report emphasized the need for CEXes to block scam cash-outs, and positions Forta's Scam Detector, with a 92.13% precision rate, as an effective countermeasure against such crypto fraud. Read the full thread on X.

DirtyBlocks reports live on Ethmainnet health. A new Forta-powered dashboard is taking Web3 by storm by showing the number of ‘dirty’ blocks mined in the past day on ethereum mainnet. ‘Dirty’ in this context refers to if any given block has scam or exploit transactions recorded within the block. DirtyBlocks is meant to raise awareness for the countless hacks taking place on-chain by showing that almost no block is clean.

Reexamining the root of on-chain hacks: malicious funding. The Forta Foundation research team revisited their funding analysis and identified small-scale attacks linked to Binance, either directly or indirectly funded by Binance CEX wallets. They also discovered new funding sources, Layerswap and SWFT, noting patterns of repeated attacks or new attacks from previously funded addresses. This analysis also highlighted a significant time gap between funding and attack execution, suggesting the need to extend the alert data retention period. These insights point to the necessity of enhancing funding detection mechanisms and will be further investigated to refine Forta's monitoring capabilities.

Forta Around the Web

- The FORT token halving is coming!
- Can we talk about the political and economic state of the Forta Network?
- Forta secures the ether.fi airdrop whitelist