A white hacker known by the pseudonym Samczsun, who is also the head of security at cryptocurrency venture Paradigm, has created a new cryptocurrency security operation.
The Security Alliance, also known as the SEAL Organization, allows cryptocurrency users affected by hacks or other security incidents to access a 24/7 emergency hotline. The platform also provides legal protection to white hackers when rescuing funds in actively exploited situations, and provides free red team training to web3 developers. This exercise simulates a hostile cyber attack against an organization’s systems to identify vulnerabilities and prepare an effective response.
“It all started with the Nomad hack.” Samczsun explained in a social media thread Wednesday. Nomad is a cryptocurrency bridge that experienced a $190 million exploit in August 2022 involving hundreds of malicious actors.
war room
“The battle room was stressful, and the security community collectively looked back and wondered, ‘How did we get to a point where random people felt comfortable stealing money off the bridge, but the white hats felt it was too dangerous to intervene?’ ” continued.
According to its website, the Security Alliance’s donors and partners include the Ethereum Foundation, a16z crypto, Paradigm, Vitalik Buterin, Filecoin Foundation, Coinbase, Dragonfly, Framework, Electric Capital, and others.
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About the author
MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020, joining just before Bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for publications covering all cryptocurrency-related news, preferring NFTs, metaverse, web3 games, fundraising, crime, hacking, and cryptocurrency ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. X You can follow MK at @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.