Web3 Proactive Blocking
Web3 Proactive Blocking is an advanced cybersecurity strategy designed to anticipate, identify, and neutralize threats within decentralized systems, primarily on blockchain networks, before they can be executed and cause loss of user funds or protocol compromise. This approach represents a necessary shift from the traditional, reactive security model (which responds after a hack) to a preemptive defense model.
Mechanism and Core Techniques
Proactive blocking leverages the unique transparency of the blockchain—where transactions are publicly broadcast and wait in a temporary holding area called the Mempool before being added to a block—to intercept malicious activity.
1. Real-Time Monitoring and Threat Perception
This is the initial and ongoing phase in which specialized security systems monitor on-chain and off-chain data 24/7.
Mempool Surveillance: Security tools continuously monitor the Mempool (pending transaction pool) of a blockchain (such as Ethereum), detecting transactions in transit before they are finalized.
Transaction Pre-Execution/Simulation: The system simulates the outcome of a pending transaction using advanced analytics and often AI-powered precision to determine if it is malicious. This process checks the runtime states and outcomes against established baselines for smart contracts, flagging anomalies.
Risk Categorization: Monitoring focuses on multiple tiers of risk, including Attack (scanning smart contract logic for high-risk anomalies), Operational Risk (e.g., oracle price anomalies), and Financial Risk (e.g., sharp changes in Total Value Locked).
2. Automated Defense and Blocking
Once a transaction is determined to be malicious, the system executes an automated response to block it before it is included in a block and confirmed on the ledger.
Front-Running with a Rescue Transaction: The most common technique for on-chain blocking involves automatically synthesizing a benign, "rescue transaction" that targets the same vulnerability or asset as the attacker's transaction. This rescue transaction is sent with a higher priority (by paying a higher gas fee) to ensure it is processed first by the block validator, thus nullifying the attacker’s transaction. This "rescue" action transfers the vulnerable assets to a secure, multi-signature account controlled by the protocol.
Sequencer-Level Blocking (for L2s/Chains): For Layer 2 solutions or specific chains, security services can operate at the sequencer level, allowing the sequencer—the entity responsible for batching transactions—to identify and drop the malicious transaction before it is even packaged, or to add the attacker's address to a chain-level blacklist.
User Alerts: On the application or wallet level, proactive protection systems scan and predict risks in real time, alerting users before they interact with potentially harmful contracts, tokens, or scam-linked addresses.
Contextual Application in Web3
Proactive blocking is essential in the Web3 ecosystem because of two key characteristics:
Immutability: Once a mistake or an exploit is written into a smart contract, it is generally difficult to patch, making preemptive defense the only way to prevent permanent asset loss.
Self-Custody Risk: Users are solely responsible for their private keys and transactions; if they fall for a phishing scam and blindly sign a malicious transaction, there is typically no centralized authority or recourse to reverse the loss. Proactive blocking defends against these user errors at the transaction level.
ThreatNG's external, attacker-centric perspective and deep intelligence capabilities are highly effective in supporting Web3 Proactive Blocking by identifying and providing context on Web3-related threats before they manifest in on-chain transactions or cause irreversible damage.
Proactive Threat Identification with ThreatNG
ThreatNG focuses on the digital risks and exposure that enable Web3 attacks, primarily through domain-based scams and code leaks.
External Discovery and Continuous Monitoring
ThreatNG performs purely external unauthenticated discovery and continuous monitoring to map the organization’s digital footprint, including Web3-related assets, to identify potential attack vectors preemptively.
Example of ThreatNG Helping: The continuous monitoring process tracks an organization’s digital presence and looks explicitly for Web3 Domains (both available and taken). Suppose a threat actor registers a new Web3 domain, such as mycompanydefi.eth. In that case, ThreatNG detects this registration, allowing the organization to take preemptive action, such as issuing a public warning to its community, before the domain is used in a rug pull or phishing scam.
External Assessment (Security Ratings)
ThreatNG’s security ratings quantify the organization’s susceptibility to Web3-related threats, acting as an early warning for potential proactive blocking needs.
BEC & Phishing Susceptibility Security Rating: This rating is based, in part, on findings across Web3 Domains (both available and taken).
Detailed Example: A low rating (e.g., 'D' or 'F') due to a high number of taken Web3 Domains (e.g., decentralized names that closely mimic the brand) indicates a significant risk of brand impersonation. This signals to security teams that they should proactively monitor these specific Web3 domain addresses on-chain for suspicious transactions targeting the organization's users, setting up the potential for a rescue transaction if a vulnerability is exploited via a phishing link.
Brand Damage Susceptibility Security Rating: This rating also considers findings across Web3 Domains (available and taken).
Detailed Example: If a malicious Web3 domain is found to be taken, and ThreatNG’s Sentiment and Financials module also uncovers Negative News or ESG Violations associated with that name (e.g., reports of a scam), the low Brand Damage Susceptibility rating quantifies the immediate reputational threat. This compels the organization to act quickly, possibly through legal action or public disclosure, to neutralize the threat before it causes further financial loss to its community.
Investigation Modules
ThreatNG's investigation modules enable rapid, detailed reconnaissance of potential malicious Web3 infrastructure.
Sensitive Code Exposure: This module is critical for identifying leaked secrets that could facilitate an attack on a Web3 protocol or platform.
Detailed Example: The module scans public code repositories for exposed access credentials and security credentials. An investigation might reveal that a development team member inadvertently exposed a private key (a Security Credential, such as an RSA Private Key or PGP private key block) related to a smart contract’s deployment or a backend API that interacts with the blockchain. This finding, detected before the key is used to drain funds, is the ultimate proactive block, allowing the organization to rotate the key immediately.
Domain Intelligence (Domain Name Permutations): This module identifies malicious lookalike domains, including those used to host Web3 phishing front-ends.
Detailed Example: An attacker sets up a fake decentralized application (DApp) portal at a transposed domain, mycompnay.com, to trick users into connecting their wallets and signing a malicious transaction (a "blank check"). ThreatNG’s Domain Name Permutations module identifies the taken mycompnay.com with a mail record. This high-confidence threat intelligence is then used to inform a user alert mechanism in the Web3 space, warning users before they visit the scam site and sign the malicious transaction, thereby achieving proactive blocking.
Intelligence Repositories
The DarCache repositories provide contextual intelligence on threat actors and compromised data that may facilitate Web3 attacks.
DarCache Compromised Credentials (DarCache Rupture): This repository tracks compromised credentials.
Example of ThreatNG Helping: An organization can cross-reference leaked credentials against known administrative accounts for their Web3 platform. If a compromised credential is found, it indicates that an attacker may attempt to front-run a legitimate admin action with a malicious one, necessitating proactive blocking measures or immediate account suspension.
DarCache Dark Web: This repository tracks mentions of organizations.
Example of ThreatNG Helping: Monitoring this repository for discussions among threat actors about plans to exploit a known vulnerability in the organization’s token contract enables the security team to gain threat intelligence and immediately upgrade the contract or execute a time-sensitive rescue transaction to protect user funds before the attack is even launched.
Complementary Solutions
ThreatNG’s external intelligence seamlessly integrates with dedicated Web3 security and monitoring platforms to achieve effective proactive blocking.
On-Chain Monitoring and Transaction Simulation Platforms: ThreatNG provides the target and the attack context, while on-chain monitoring platforms offer the mechanism for the block.
Example of ThreatNG and Complementary Solutions: ThreatNG’s Sensitive Code Exposure module detects a public leak of a minor smart contract vulnerability's proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit on a public code-sharing platform. This specific vulnerability information is immediately shared with the on-chain monitoring platform. The platform then uses this detail to specifically tune its Mempool Surveillance and Transaction Pre-Execution logic, ensuring that any pending transaction attempting to exploit that specific vulnerability is automatically identified and nullified via a rescue transaction before the block is finalized, thus achieving a proactive block.
Decentralized Identity (DID) and Wallet Security Tools: ThreatNG’s data on impersonation can help protect end users.
Example of ThreatNG and Complementary Solutions: ThreatNG identifies a high-risk phishing domain via the BEC & Phishing Susceptibility findings. This malicious domain/URL is then pushed to decentralized identity tools or browser wallet extensions, enabling the wallet to display a real-time, proactive alert to the user, warning them that the site they are about to connect to is a known scammer, thereby blocking the user’s malicious transaction before it is even signed.
