Opinion by: Casey Ford, PhD, researcher in NYM technologies
Web3 rolls into the wave of decentralization. Decentralized applications (DAPPS) grew by 74% in 2024 and individual purses by 485%, with a total locked amount (TVL) in decentralized finances (DEFI) closing a close record of $ 214 billion. The industry is also, however, towards a state of acquisition if it does not wake up.
As Elon Musk tempted to put the US ark on the blockchain, however poorly thought, the water increases turn as Crypto is deregulated. But when they do, is the web3 ready to “protect data (user) data,” while Musk surrendered to the promise? If not, we are all on the brink of a global data security crisis.
The crisis boils into a weakness in the middle of the digital world: Metadata monitoring of all existing networks, even decentralized Web3. AI technologies are on the foundation of monitoring systems and serve as accelerants. The anonymity networks offer a way out of the state of acquisition. But it should start with metadata protections throughout the board.
Metadata is the new tracking border
Metadata is the unnoticed raw AI monitoring material. Compared to payload data, the metadata is lightweight and thus easily processes as much. Here, AI systems are best. The combined -with metadata can reveal more than the enemies content: Patterns of conduct, network of contacts, personal desires and, ultimately, predictable. And legal, it is not protected in the way encrypted on end-to-end (e2e) Communications are in some regions.
While metadata is a part of all digital assets, the metadata dripping from the E2E -in -depth traffic exposes us and what we do: IPs, timing signatures, packet size, prescrypting formats and even purse specification. All of these are fully read to opponents that monitor a network. Blockchain transactions are no exception.
From the piles of digital junk a gold can appear detailed records of everything we do. Metadata is our digital unconscious, and it is for grabs for any machines that can be harvested to earn.
The blockchain limits
Protecting the metadata of transactions is a thinking of blockchain technology. Crypto does not offer Unsprisingly Despite the reactionary organization of the industry with prohibited trade. It offers Pseudonymitythe ability to hold tokens in a purse with a selected name.
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“(T) He is a public nature of the ledger of transactions (…) means anyone can observe the flow of coins. (P) Seudonymous addresses do not provide any significant level of anonymous, as anyone can reap the opposite addresses of any given transactions and rebuild the chain of transactions.”
Like all chain transactions are public, anyone who runs an entire node may have a panoptic view of chain activity. Plus, metadata such as IP addresses attached to pseudonymous wallets can be used to identify people’s locations and identities if monitoring technologies is sophisticated enough.
This is the main problem of Metadata monitoring the Blockchain economy: Tracking systems can effectively indicate our financial traffic by any capable party.
Knowledge is also a insecurity
Knowledge is not just power, such as going to adage. This is also the basis on which we are exploited and disempowered. There are at least three general risks of metadata throughout the web3.
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Fraud: The lack of financial and monitoring is unrelated to linked. The most serious hack, theft or scam depends on accumulated knowledge of a target: their ownership, transaction history and who they are. Dappradar estimates a $ 1.3-billion loss due to “hacks and exploits” such as phishing attacks in 2024 only.
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Leaks: The purses that allow access to decentralized tokenomics rely on leaky centralized infrastructure. Studies of Dapps and purse showed the proliferation of IP leakage: “Existing purse infrastructure is not in favor of users’ privacy. Websites abuse wallets to fingerprint users online, and DAPPS and purses leak a user’s purse address at third parties.” Patterns of transactions can be easily revealed by metadata.
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Chain Consensus: The chain consensus is a potential attack point. An example is Celestia’s recent initiative to add an anonymous layer to hide the metadat of validators against specific attacks that seek to disrupt the chain consensus in the process of having Celestia (DAS) data.
Web3 -Negening by anonymously
As the web3 continues to grow, as well as the amount of metadata about people’s activities offered up to new monitoring systems.
More than VPNs
Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology is decades at this point. The lack of progress is surprising, with most VPNs left in both centralized and infrastructure ownership. Networks like Tor and Dandelion have walked as decentralized solutions. However they are still vulnerable to monitoring global opponents capable of “timing assessment” by control of entry and exit nodes. Even more advanced tools are required.
Noise networks
All tracking is looking for patterns on a network full of noise. With further obscure communication patterns and linking metadata such as IPs from traffic-generated metadata, possible attacks of vectors can be greatly reduced, and metadata patterns can be scrambled to the nonsense.
Unknown networks appear in anonymous sensitive traffic such as communications or crypto transactions by noise: traffic cover, timing obfuscations and data mixing. In the same spirit, other VPNs such as Mullvad have introduced programs such as Daita (defense against AI-guided traffic test), aimed at adding “distortion” to the VPN network.
Sscrammbling codes
If it defends people against killings in drone wars open or securing their onchain transactions, newly anonymous networks are required to scramble codes of what everyone’s target is: the metadata our online life has left their awakening.
Here is the state of acquisition. Machine study feeds on our data. Instead of leaving the data of the people there who are not protected, the web3 and anonymous systems can ensure that what will end with AI’s tooth is effective waste.
Opinion by: Casey Ford, PhD, NYM technologies researcher.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be done as legal or investment advice. The views, attitudes, and opinions expressed here are unique and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of the cointelegraph.
