Web3 developers continue to be plagued by scams and phishing attacks, which have cost the industry more than $1 billion.
The crypto industry is focusing on the decentralized Web3 future. However, the community still lives on centralized Web2 platforms such as Telegram, Twitter, Discord and Twitter. Fraudsters are flooding in to steal and scam these platforms as DAOs and NFT groups continue to use them. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission reported that more than $1 billion has been lost to crypto scams since 2021.
A new startup, Chatsight, is based in San Francisco. It focuses on safety in Discord servers. They are part of a growing range of services that aim to protect Discord communities.
Chatsight was founded in 2021 by Marcus Naughton. It is a “safety-as-a-service company” that provides additional security for social media platforms such as Telegram and Discord. These platforms are central to Web3 projects that seek to build and organize communities around their projects.
Decrypt Naughton explains that “we’re providing an agnostic tech.” “We create the anti-scam A.I. (artificial Intelligence) tech and connect it to platforms such as Telegram, Discord, and other as they come along with a eventual goal of providing safety tools and tools for on-chain network.
DAOs (decentralized autonomous organisations) love Discord for their ability to collaborate and organize. DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) are loosely organized groups that work together to support and build crypto projects. They also often finance their activities using tokens.
DAOs are already wary of scammers and use third-party programs like Collab.Land as gatekeepers to their Discord server. They verify that DAOs token holders have the token before granting access. Security remains a concern, even though token gatekeepers are able to manage memberships.
PeckShield , a security firm, posted a May alert to Twitter stating that scammers had used OpenSea’s Discord server for NFT market OpenSea to promote a NFT mint.
The Discord server of the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s NFT collective Bored Ape was compromised earlier this month. This allowed scammers to steal NFTs totaling 200 ETH (or $358,962 at the time).
After the exploit, a Bored Ape Yacht Club cofounder lashed at Discord June 4, claiming that the popular communication app “isn’t working for Web3 community members.”
Chatsight can be deployed on social media platforms. Naughton explained that Chatsight focuses on scams and other phishing attacks. He also said, “The one thing everyone can agree on is [that] scams were bad.”
Chatsight was originally an A.I. Chatsight started as an A.I. platform for moderation of social networks. Naughton explained that the company morphed after speaking with a crypto Telegram group owner, who paid around $5,000 to have people watch the channel.
Naughton states that “if these people are paying humans for this, it shows that there is a need that these platforms don’t address.” “When you create communities on these platforms, it is a clear sign that you are now taking your security back into your hands.”
Chatsight, Naughton claims, aims to be a managed security partner and “a quasi-antivirus,” providing users with a suite of tools to monitor their Discord servers.
Chatsight, according to Naughton uses an “air-gapped Discord account”, one that is not available anywhere else. This account can be associated with Discord servers and given admin rights. It will monitor the server for scams or phishing attacks and keep the account owner separate. The Chatsight bot can also be controlled by the server owner.
Naughton claims that the freemium product offers additional security features, such as Enterprise Cloudflare, Discord Account Verification, checking the account’s reputation across Discord and punishments that range from a 30-minute timeout to bans for accounts repeatedly flagged.
Naughton believes that the problem with the current internet version is that users are giving away their assets (plans and designs, mission plans, etc.). Third parties such as Discord, Twitter and Telegram can host and provide security. However, users do not have any control over that security.
Naughton states, “We expect that you will be compromised due to the nature of Discord’s product–exploits occur to everyone.” “So, we assume that you will be exploited. How can we stop the damage caused by that?”
