The term Web3 was born in 2014.

The term Web3 was born in 2014 by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood
and became more popular around 2021. This upcoming version of the Internet includes cryptocurrencies and tokens, wallets,
decentralized networks, the blockchain and other technologies.

Now security is always a work in progress, but let’s have a look into some of the known risks that you can encounter.

51% attacks

A Blockchain, is essentially a database that stores transactions and information about them before encrypting the information. Through a validation procedure, the Blockchain's network comes to a consensus about transactions, and the blocks containing the data are then sealed. 

By storing prior block information in each block, cryptographic techniques are used to link the blocks together. As a result, once the blocks are validated enough times, it becomes practically impossible to change them. A group that has more than 50% of the network's hashing power* (*the processing power used to solve the cryptographic puzzle) is said to be performing a 51% attack on the blockchain. 

At a very specific point in the Blockchain, this group then introduces an altered Blockchain to the network, which is presumably approved by the network because the attackers would own most of it. The key to preventing 51% attacks is the community behind a network/project agreeing to uphold the value of immutability and to maintain decentralization.

Phishing threats

This allows a hacker for example to clone or mimic accounts on social media or they interact with community users and trap them in the bait. The hacker offers giveaways or airdrops (free cryptocurrency tokens) that are too attractive to pass up or shares links to fake websites.

""People wish to learn to swim and at the same time to keep one foot on the ground." - Marcel Proust

Better safe than sorry

Rug pulls or exit scams

These are attacks where the developer/creator attracts investors to a new cryptocurrency project. Most of the time they operate anonymously.

The creators will hype and pump the new token through social media and other platforms. They often copy an idea or a whitepaper from another project and build a simple website around it. After a while they’ll pull out and abandon the project with all the investors' funds, leaving those with a worthless token.

To identify these scammers you as a potential investor should research possible red flags such as team credibility, extravagant return projections, documentation standards, the level of transparency, a non-existing working model or heavily promoted offerings.

Third-party software libraries introduce a large attack surface
Teams that operate in Web3 must keep track of the progress and condition of the projects they rely on, check for vulnerabilities in the individual components of their software, and make sure updates are applied. This does not always happen and you as a user should always be aware of these kinds of risks when using third party applications like token bridges or other platforms that offer interoperability or cross chain interactions*

(*Normally a blockchain operates separately. Cross Chain/Multi Chain/Interoperability is an emerging technology that facilitates the transfer of value and data between two or more blockchain networks).

Let’s look at aspects that can help you stay safe on web3

Some things you should (at all time)
avoid sharing online:

At last some valuable tips to stay safe and secure on Web3.

What People Say About Us