Creating a smart contract is not easy, as it involves several weak spots and risks. Hackers can take advantage of these weaknesses and damage the smart contract security of your organization. Your customer data may be at risk, and it will result in a loss of revenue. So, it is important to know the tips to secure smart contract.
The self-executing smart contracts are effective in enforcing the agreement terms, and there is no need to involve a third party. That is why they are highly appealing options for several individuals and businesses, which need to conduct transactions. You can work with a smart contract development company that knows the best practices for securing smart contracts.
Tips to secure smart contract
As a smart contract is a program, developers have to ensure the security and accuracy of their codes. We have now shared with you some tips for writing smart contracts with special attention to security.
Be careful while adding functionality
EOS, Ethereum, and several other smart contracts have become highly popular due to their high functionalities. However, the functionality may affect the level of security. While managing protocols that work with multifunctional and complicated smart contracts, you should apply the best technique. Without a strong security solution, your codes may be at risk.
Some networks enable developers to impose restrictions on these smart contracts. This way, they can strengthen the security of codes. Although these restrictions will compromise the functionality of smart contracts, better control ensures high security. Moreover, when you need to deal with networks, you may develop contracts with automatic validation tools. There is a 100% assurance of securing smart contracts.
Select the best programming language
It is important to identify the programming language, which is best for making smart contracts secure.
The most commonly chosen programming languages are JavaScript and C++. They provide several potential to develop highly functional and intricate contracts. Thus, they cannot ensure a secure solution for smart contract development projects.
You can find several blockchains creating their unique programming languages. It will minimize the number of potential coding errors and bugs. These programming languages are best for developing secure smart contracts. In the case of popular languages, developers need to focus on several factors, such as the interaction between the blockchain, compiler, and language.
On the contrary, some programming languages are available with less complicated semantics. For instance, Scilla is a language used for developing a smart contract, Zilliqa. As the language is not intricate, developers can easily avoid programming issues while designing the contract.
Regardless of the language chosen, developers have to implement the best practices for smart contracts.
Apply blockchain-oriented development methods
Although a smart contract is a software, it needs to focus on the details of blockchain. The cost of a minor blockchain-related mistake is much high. Still, there are ways to avoid errors.
For instance, blockchain networks’ mechanisms enable you to call the contract code uniquely. Beginner-level developers have a chance of overlooking this issue.
Security audits and testing- These are important for every development project
It is challenging to predict everything at the time of creating a smart contract. Thus, you should run a preliminary test. There are several ways to test smart contracts. For instance, unit tests are useful for dealing with basic smart contract functionalities. Moreover, security audits can ensure higher security for smart contracts. Professional auditors are efficient in identifying coding flaws. So, by engaging third parties, you can analyze codes from fresh perspectives.
What design patterns ensure smart contract security?
- Check-effect interaction
This pattern involves basic guidelines for coding smart contracts. It lets developers identify the best way to create a function. Moreover, it illustrates the structure of function codes by preventing side effects. It also mentions the order of different functions, and developers can modify the contract status.
When transferring the control to a different contract, you have to make sure that the current smart contract has the desired functionality and is independent of another contract.
- Speed bumps pattern
When a malicious event takes place, it can result in speed bumps. Smart contract holders get much time to take steps. But speed bumps have no value in the case of DAO. So, you can use them combined with circuit breakers.
Before any malicious activity is done, users are able to withdraw funds. For instance, several customers withdraw funds at a time because of the potential bank solvency risks. In these scenarios, banks try to delay, halt, and limit the withdrawal functions.
- Rate limit pattern
It is an effective pattern to control the frequency of calling a function in a particular time interval. Due to this unique pattern, you can impose a withdrawal limit and prevent the drainage of funds within a short time. Another way to implement the rate-limiting pattern is to limit the issued tokens.
- Mutex pattern
It is another security pattern for the synchronization process, and it restricts access to your resources. Implementation of these mutex patterns will save your smart contracts from recursive functions.
- Balance limit
Smart contract developers think it is safe to manage the money at risk. They can do it by restricting the balance in the contract.
What security tools are essential for smart contract developers?
We have listed the tools that enable developers to secure smart contracts.
- Oyente
Oyente is effective in analyzing the Ethereum code to identify vulnerabilities. It relies on inputs like the global state and bytecode. Its major components comprise CGF builder, Validator, and CoreAnalysis. CGF builder creates a graph of the control flow.
- GasTap
GasTap calculates the upper bond needed for the gas for contracts. It deals with the tools available in a pipeline.
- SmartInspect
It is another tool for evaluating the smart contract with decompilation methods for contracts deployed remotely. There is no need to use API to accumulate raw data.
- Solgraph
The tool for visualization security creates a DOT graph to maintain the secured flow of contracts. The major role of this tool is to find security risks.
- Vandal
It is a framework for the security analysis of smart contracts. Bytecodes get converted into logic relations. The pipeline comprises a disassembler, a bytecode scraper, and a decompiler.
Conclusion
Security is one of the major concerns about the smart contract development project. However, our tips to secure smart contract will be helpful for developers. To increase the safety of smart contracts, developers should apply advanced methodologies. You can work with a reliable smart contract development agency for your project.
