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Open Source Tool Launches To Protect Against Web3 Security Attacks
A new open source extension for Chrome browsers promises to protect users against rising Web3 security threats like phishing and fraudulent contracts.
Launched in early December, Web3 Antivirus (W3A) touts itself as a machine-learning powered extension that detects and prevents everything from fraudulent e-mails, seed phrase phishing attacks and fake Web sites, to smart contract scams, IP infringement and malicious airdrops.
In a prepared statement, W3A founder Alex Dulub said the tool's main goal is "to help the web3 community save billions of dollars by making the ecosystem a safer place to cooperate and work in, which will benefit all stakeholders in the long run."
W3A protects users against potentially harmful contracts using machine learning. Specifically, according to its site, "To analyze the transaction, W3A executes it in our testing EVM environment and checks all the smart contracts involved to show what happens if you confirm the transaction."
After simulating the effects of the smart contract, W3A then generates a risk score that the potential signee can then use to determine whether they should sign the contract or not.
W3A also protects against phishing sites by cross-checking domains against a large database of blacklists and whitelists. It also flags warning signs in a site's source code.
W3A supports Ethereum, Solana and Binance. A free tier is currently available with the aforementioned phishing and smart contract features, while a for-pay "Premium" tier is in the works, which will include WatchDog-powered IP checks, detailed reporting on smart contracts and more.
The W3A Chrome extension is available to download here.