Stopping Scams Before They Happen with FailSafe and Forta

Article by Forta Network Feb. 22, 2024

Forta is the largest network of security intel in Web3. The decentralized Forta Network leverages machine learning and a community of security researchers to detect exploits, scams and other threats.   


In the dynamic world of blockchain technology, where the stakes for security are ever-increasing, FailSafe is working with Forta to access web3’s best threat intelligence. This partnership enables a significant evolution in FailSafe’s security features, introducing ‘Smart Mode’, a state-of-the-art feature that leverages Forta Network’s real-time threat intelligence to monitor and act against potential security threats dynamically.

Forta’s Real-Time Detection: The Cornerstone of FailSafe’s Threat Monitoring

As the web3 ecosystem expands, the collaboration between FailSafe and Forta Network has become increasingly critical. By melding Forta’s real-time threat monitoring with FailSafe’s advanced theft intervention systems, users can now benefit from a pioneering security solution that not only detects but also actively mitigates risks, ensuring the safe and uninterrupted operation of decentralized platforms. 

FailSafe utilizes Forta’s Scam Detector which is enabled by a collection of key Forta bots, each monitoring for a specific threat type – ice phishing, address poisoning, rake tokens, token impersonation, fraudulent NFT orders, pig butchering, gas minting, sleep minting, hard rug pulls, soft rug pulls, and wash trading. It also leverages new predictive techniques to flag on-chain addresses associated with known scammers, and contracts that closely resemble known scammers.

How It Works

  1. The Scam Detector consumes alerts from a set of base bots (example alert: “Address 0x123 is involved in an ice phishing attack”).
  2. The incoming alerts are processed and labels are created (example label: Address 0x123 receives a scammer label).
  3. Labels are permanently stored on the Forta Network and within FailSafe’s Redis cache (designed for scalability and low latency, enabling FailSafe to take immediate and effective action).
  4. In the event that a FailSafe-protected address is detected in any pending transaction, FailSafe performs a lookup of the counterparty’s address across its threat intelligence database to determine risk level.
  5. If the counterparty is flagged as high risk, FailSafe swiftly intercepts the pending transaction, moving targeted assets (such as ERC20 and ERC721 tokens) to the user’s designated Recovery Vault. Read more about the FailSafe Recovery Vault here.

Toward a More Secure and Resilient Web3 Ecosystem

Andy Beal, Ecosystem Lead at the Forta Foundation, expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration, stating, “Joining forces with FailSafe signifies a milestone in our quest to secure the web3 ecosystem. By combining our expertise, we are crafting comprehensive security solutions that safeguard digital assets and foster the growth of decentralized platforms.”

Echoing this sentiment, Ari Medvinsky, CTO of FailSafe, highlighted the strategic importance of this partnership: “Aligning with Forta accelerates our mission to elevate security standards across the web3 landscape. Together, our integrated security solutions promise to deliver unmatched protection for digital assets.”