The existing state of the blockchain industry might reflect profoundly on the declining prices of crypto assets. On top of it, the failure of big centralized players in the blockchain space, such as the FTX collapse, has imposed a negative influence on blockchain adoption. In addition, blockchain security worsened in 2022 with different scams, hacks, and exploits causing losses worth $3.7 billion.
You could not find a better time than now to become a blockchain security auditor and capitalize on the career opportunity. What is the importance of blockchain security audit? Do organizations need blockchain auditors now? The following post helps you find out the answers alongside the essential information required for pursuing a career in blockchain security auditing.
Why Should You Become Blockchain Auditors?
One of the common concerns of candidates pursuing roles in blockchain security audit revolves around reasons for choosing the concerned career path. You must have doubts regarding job security in blockchain security auditor roles and the expected remuneration. Will the profession of blockchain security audit offer a long-term career advantage? If you want to pursue a career in blockchain security, you must know about the existing state of the industry and the career benefits.
Did you know about the Ronin Bridge hack in 2022? Touted as the largest blockchain heist, the Ronin Bridge hack resulted in a loss of $625 million. The rug pull scams robbed unsuspecting users of $200 million in around 316 different scams in 2022. The most troublesome concern for blockchain security is the exponential growth of 189% in terms of losses with blockchain security.
Most important of all, DeFi protocols have been the most vulnerable target of blockchain hacks in 2022. In addition, the consistently evolving variety of security threats in the domain of blockchain demand the intervention of experienced professionals. The average annual salary of a blockchain auditor is almost $100,000 for entry-level roles. You can notice how the blockchain security landscape offers multiple career opportunities you can use to your advantage.
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Importance of Blockchain Security Audits
The reasons for pursuing a career in blockchain security audit focus primarily on the threat of security issues with blockchain. The new blockchain-based applications have a significant amount of value associated with them. For example, DeFi protocols have millions of dollars of user funds staked in their smart contracts, and NFT smart contracts have proof of ownership.
Imagine what would happen if someone figured out a vulnerability in the smart contract of a DeFi protocol or NFT. The answers to “What does a blockchain auditor do?” are closely related to the future of blockchain. You should know that a blockchain security audit can ensure that a new blockchain protocol, DeFi app, NFT collection, or smart contract is completely free from security issues.
Blockchain security audit refers to the detailed assessment of a blockchain network to verify that it works according to desired specifications. The audits involve the analysis of smart contracts alongside testing the resilience of the network infrastructure. Security audits help in the careful evaluation of the codes deployed on the blockchain protocol.
Should you take up blockchain auditor jobs knowing the fact that blockchain itself is a secure technology? Why would you need to evaluate the security of something which was built to improve security? As a matter of fact, blockchain has to work with different plugins and integrations to offer the desired functionalities. Therefore, security audits are crucial for identifying vulnerabilities that can affect protocol functionality.
Responsibilities of Blockchain Auditors
The requirement for experienced blockchain security auditors is at an all-time high, especially with the rise of Web3 use cases. As the number of blockchain-based applications continues increasing, the vulnerabilities in blockchain and smart contracts will also increase. The blockchain auditor’s salary and career development opportunities serve as valid reasons to pursue a career in blockchain security. However, you should know about the important job responsibilities of blockchain auditors.
Interestingly, the most important responsibility of a blockchain security auditor is to identify the vulnerabilities in blockchain-based applications. What are the vulnerabilities you have to identify as an auditor? One of the foremost vulnerabilities which affect blockchain-based applications is smart contract vulnerability. Hackers use vulnerabilities in the smart contract code to exploit decentralized applications. Another prominent responsibility of a blockchain auditor focuses on regular security checks and review of development flaws for immediate resolution.
Important Skills Required for Blockchain Security Auditors
The most vital piece of information in a guide to becoming a blockchain security auditor would be the outline of skills. What do you need to learn to land jobs in blockchain security audits? Blockchain audits require the implementation of different tools and effective use of knowledge regarding smart contracts and programming. You must learn about the automated tools which can help in improving blockchain security audits.
While manual audit is a mandatory necessity in blockchain security, automated tools can help you achieve better efficiency and accuracy in the audit. On top of it, a blockchain security auditor also needs effective communication skills alongside the ability to create clear documentation and reports. You should have the ability to explain the technical concepts in the security audit reports to non-technical stakeholders.
Best Practices in the Journey to Become Blockchain Security Auditors
The decision to become a professional blockchain security audit expert might seem like the ideal choice, with favorable career opportunities. At the same time, you must find an effective way to navigate through the obstacles in your career journey. Can a blockchain auditor course help you become one right now?
If you have been developing smart contracts and dApps for years, then you can probably use a blockchain security audit course to achieve the objective. On the other hand, beginners need to start from scratch and follow essential best practices for becoming blockchain security auditors. Here are the important steps recommended by experts for building your career in blockchain security auditing.
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Familiarize yourself with Blockchain and Smart Contract Fundamentals
The first step in your efforts toward scoring a good blockchain security auditor salary estimate would involve the fundamentals of blockchain and smart contracts. You need to know how blockchain works and the impact of cryptography alongside reviewing the security vulnerabilities across different layers of blockchain architecture. Security auditors have to focus on threats at the blockchain application layer alongside the important token standards.
In addition, blockchain auditor jobs require professionals with fluency in smart contract programming. How can you evaluate someone else’s smart contract code when you don’t know how to create one? Candidates aspiring for jobs in blockchain security auditing should learn about smart contract fundamentals and how they work. You must learn how smart contracts provide the scope for broadening the functionalities of blockchain. In addition, security auditors must also have an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
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Develop Programming Skills
The responsibilities of blockchain auditors require them to learn about smart contract programming and ways to develop blockchain applications. You can land up with desired blockchain auditor salary packages if you have skills in creating blockchain-based applications. What are the important skills required for blockchain programming? First of all, you need expertise in developing conventional web applications, thereby implying the necessity of learning JavaScript, C++, Python, or Ruby.
In addition, you have to work on your skills in smart contract programming languages such as Solidity. Solidity is the most popular programming language for smart contracts. In-depth knowledge regarding Solidity and its components can help you identify the most intricate issues in Solidity smart contract code.
Most important of all, a blockchain security auditor must also learn other smart contract programmings languages such as Rust and Vyper. Apart from programming and smart contract development expertise, you need to know the fundamentals of software development, version control, quality and assurance, and debugging.
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Build Awareness of Blockchain Security Vulnerabilities
Most of the answers to “What does a blockchain auditor do?” would refer to the timely identification of security vulnerabilities. Therefore, security auditors must have comprehensive knowledge regarding potential vulnerabilities in blockchain security. On top of it, blockchain auditors must also know about the different ways in which hackers can exploit vulnerabilities.
You can use professional training resources on blockchain security to learn about the security threats at different layers of blockchain architecture. In addition, candidates for blockchain auditor jobs must also develop skills for implementing the best practices of vulnerability assessments. At the same time, you should also familiarize yourself with the specifications for security at different levels, with the benefits of standardization.
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Practical Experience in Blockchain Auditing
The best way to strengthen your chances of becoming a blockchain auditor involves the need for practical experience. Without diving into the practical aspects of detecting blockchain security vulnerabilities, you are less likely to recognize them in real applications.
You can find more valuable learning outcomes than a blockchain auditor course through practical involvement in security audits. The important steps associated with blockchain audits include preparation, code review, and analysis, followed by comprehensive testing. You need to understand the important functional specifications and learn the business logic alongside describing every functionality.
The journey of learning about blockchain auditing also includes an emphasis on learning about testing frameworks, such as Hardhat, Brownie, and Truffle. You have to practice the ability to write unit tests and conduct a line-by-line review of the code. Skills in the line-by-line review of code can help in faster identification of issues such as data manipulation, flash loans, and access violations.
In addition, you can also have better chances of earning a lucrative blockchain auditor salary with abilities to verify compliance with code-style guides. Practical experience in blockchain security auditing also requires you to familiarize yourself with the automated tools required for security audits. Some of the popular automated smart contract audit tools include Mythril, Securify, and Slither.
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Certifications are Valuable Additions to Your Portfolio
The final recommendation by experts for becoming a blockchain auditor refers to certification. You need to earn certifications in blockchain security to prove your fluency in threat modeling and vulnerability assessment. Most important of all, certifications can serve significant value improvements to your professional portfolio.
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Conclusion
The outline of basic practices for pursuing a career in blockchain security auditing provides a helpful guide to becoming auditors. Blockchain security audits are the need of the hour for addressing the growing threat of security issues for blockchain-based applications. You can become blockchain security auditor and earn a promising salary package with the right skills. However, it is important to emphasize the necessity of familiarizing ourselves with different concepts related to blockchain security.
In addition, you must also understand how blockchain and smart contract programming works. As a blockchain security auditor, you have to take on the responsibility of safeguarding blockchain protocols against emerging vulnerabilities. You would need credible training resources to learn about blockchain architecture and smart contract programming. Learn more about the fundamentals of blockchain security and certify your skills as a professional blockchain security expert right now.
*Disclaimer: The article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice. Claims made in this article do not constitute investment advice and should not be taken as such. 101 Blockchains shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article. Do your own research!
