In the world of blockchain technology, the security of protocols is paramount. Recently, the innovative cypto asset Worldcoin, which gained fame with its proof of humanity protocol, revealed audit reports on July 28th displaying all resolved security issues in the face of criticism over its data collection practices. The audits were carried out by renowned security consulting firms, Nethermind and Least Authority. Following this audit, Nethermind identified 26 security issues. Impressive 24 of those were fixed during the verification process, one was mitigated and the remaining one was simply acknowledged.
The audit reports bring some much-needed calm to the Worldcoin project. It faced a storm of criticism over its free token initiative, in the terms of which users verified their humaneness by having their iris scanned by a device named the “Orb”. Whilst this progressive verification method was seen by some to be a genuine attempt to curb the rise of malicious AI bots, others were horrified at the thought of the loss of privacy, sparking criticism of Orwellian practices.
Nevertheless, another layer of trouble surfaced as the United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and French data protection agency CNIL question the legality of the projects. The wave of scrutiny surprisingly resulted in divided opinions throughout the crypto-community. While some saw the scrutiny as warranted, others defended Worldcoin, arguing that it is a necessary progress towards safeguarding humanity against AI manipulation.
The audit reports covered a vast range of security topics from resistance to DDoS attacks, to key storage, and proper management of encryption. Interestingly, some issues were reportedly due to dependencies on Semaphore and Ethereum, including features such as elliptic curve precompile support or Poseidon hash function configuration. Almost all of the issues were either fixed or have planned fixes. However, an unresolved issue that was merely “acknowledged” might remained a seed of concern for some.
In summary, these audits mark a significant step for Worldcoin, providing it much-needed credibility against widespread criticism. However, it still remains to be seen if the public will accept the innovative mix of biometric security and blockchain technology that Worldcoin is offering. Can that seed of concern about an unfixed issue be ignored in the face of the impeccable response Worldcoin showed in its auditing process. Time will no doubt reveal the answer.
Source: Cointelegraph
