Web3’s First “Community Developed” Threat Intelligence Service Launches

Forta is a real-time detection network for security monitoring of blockchain activity. The decentralized Forta Network scans all transactions and block-by-block state changes, leveraging machine learning to detect threats and anomalies on wallets, DeFi, NFTs, bridges, governance and other Web3 systems. When issues are detected, Web3 infrastructure can respond to prevent attacks via transaction screening and incident response.

The Forta Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the Scam Detector, a new data feed maintained by the Forta community, including BlockSec and Nethermind, that provides real-time intelligence about Web3 scammers. 

The Scam Detector monitors on and off-chain activity and flags malicious addresses and URLs using a combination of machine learning and heuristics. The Scam Detector tells you whether a particular address has been flagged a scammer, the type of scam it was observed engaging in and transaction details supporting why it was flagged. Under the hood, the Scam Detector relies on over a dozen individual detection bots running on the Forta Network. The bots are developed and maintained by members of the Forta community, including BlockSec and Nethermind.

“There is broad acknowledgement that the industry as a whole needs to do more to identify scams and protect end users. The Forta community has been attacking this problem head on for the last year, and we’re excited about the collaboration with two leaders in BlockSec and Nethermind. We’re all strong advocates for a ‘community-based’ approach to threat detection because we believe it results in more comprehensive coverage,” said Andy Beal, Ecosystem Lead at the Forta Foundation.

The Scam Detector monitors for a variety of popular scam types, including ice phishing, rug pulls, address poisoning and fraudulent tokens, and will add coverage for additional threat types over time. In just June, the Scam Detector identified 30,000+ scammer addresses.

The Scam Detector is already used by Web3 wallets, centralized exchanges, and digital asset compliance platforms, among others, to protect end users and combat money laundering. It was also recently announced that Solidus Labs, a leading digital asset AML and compliance provider, has integrated the Scam Detector into its Web3AML service. 

“At BlockSec, we understand the paramount importance of Web3 security, recognizing that scams and phishing present grave threats to users. Guided by our commitment to protect users, we've consistently invested in this area, standing at the forefront with cutting-edge research and publications. Our unique capability in detecting scams and phishing URLs has long been a trusted resource for the community, safeguarding users' assets. Forta's Scam Detector is an invaluable tool in combating these challenges, aligning seamlessly with our mission to safeguard users. We are proud to be an early and ongoing contributor to this initiative,” said Yajin Zhou, Co-Founder of BlockSec.

About Forta

The Forta Network is a decentralized network that monitors public blockchains for exploits, scams and other security-related activity. The network generates real-time intelligence used by leading Web3 wallets, centralized exchanges, and DeFi protocols among others. To learn more, please visit forta.org.

About BlockSec

BlockSec is a leading provider of blockchain security infrastructure. The team is founded by top-notch security researchers and experienced experts from both academia and industry. They have published multiple blockchain security papers in prestigious conferences, reported several zero-day attacks of DeFi applications, and successfully protected digital assets worth more than $14 million by blocking multiple attacks. To learn more, please visit blocksec.com.

About Nethermind

Nethermind is an Ethereum research and software engineering company enabling enterprises and developers worldwide to build on the decentralized web. Their work touches every part of the ecosystem, from its Nethermind node to fundamental cryptography research and application-layer protocol development. To learn more, please visit nethermind.io.