Smart Contracts Audit: Answering the TOP 5 most frequently asked questions

With this article you will answer in 5 minutes the most common questions you may have about smart contract audits.

However, it was also created so that you can answer any specific questions you have without having to read everything.

Is a smart contract audit really necessary?

What is a smart contract audit about?

What is needed to request an audit?

How much does an audit cost?

How long does it take to do an audit?

How to request an audit?

Is it really necessary?

A smart contract audit provides a detailed analysis of the security of a project's smart contracts.

On the blockchain, all transactions are final, therefore funds cannot be recovered in the event of theft, and sometimes even the most experienced developers inadvertently make mistakes and leave vulnerabilities that expose funds to cybercriminal attacks. In the net.

With large amounts of value transacted in smart contracts, they have become attractive targets for attackers in recent years. Due to this, the need for such audits is experiencing a massive increase, since these are the fundamental element to safeguard the invested funds.

An example of a smart contract attack is the hack of "the DAO" on the Ethereum blockchain, which took approximately 60 million dollars in ETH and even led to an emergency Hard Fork in the network.

In addition to these cyber threats, audits have become essential, and today more and more individual and institutional investors make their investment decisions in Blockchain projects, based on the results of audits on smart contracts.

What is a smart contract audit about?

In an audit, the smart contract code of a project is examined and commented on. Typically, these contracts are written in the Solidity programming language and are provided through GitHub.

Audits typically follow a four-step process:

The smart contracts are provided to the audit team for initial analysis.

The audit team presents its findings to the project team for action.

The project team makes changes based on the problems found.

The audit team issues its final report, considering any new changes or pending bugs.

Security audits are performed using a set of standards and procedures. The smart contract audit process depends on the scope and size of the project and includes two types of tests:

Automated tests: They are carried out using special software to identify inputs and outputs of financial assets in the project. These tools allow the team to control what happens in the operation of the project, which makes it easier for the audit team to locate common problems.

Manual testing: Performed when automated tools can no longer interpret the developer's intentions. An audit team will review all the specifications and then determine if everything is working as intended by reviewing the program code.

After the audit is complete, the auditors write up the discovered code flaws and provide feedback to the project team to correct them. Most reports categorize issues by severity, such as critical, major, minor, etc.

Along with an executive summary, a standard report will contain recommendations and a full breakdown of where coding errors exist. Subsequently, the project team is given time to act on the report findings before the final version of the report is published.

Once the errors have been corrected, the auditors publish the final report, taking into account the actions taken by the project team or external experts to solve the problems that were raised.

What is needed to request an audit?

Among the technical details required to request a smart contract audit are:

Project overview (the goal of the smart contract)

Documentation necessary to understand the project; Intended use cases, architecture and design

Link to source code to determine the cost of the audit (usually access to a GitHub repository is given)

Protocol used (ERC, BSC, etc) and programming language (Solidity, Cairo, other)

Desired completion date

Finally, the collaboration between the development team and the auditor is essential so that the auditors can obtain a full understanding of the functions of the contract and an explanation of how the contracts should work.

How much does an Audit cost?

The exact cost of an audit depends on the number of smart contracts to verify. Audit providers charge on average between $5,000 and $15,000 USD, depending on the complexity of the code.

A particularly large project can easily cost more than $10,000 USD. The reputation of the firm performing the audit also affects the final cost.

But why can an audit be so expensive?

In the process, a team of auditors can verify the code, line by line, which is a complex task that requires a lot of time and specialized training, and is additionally carried out by personnel in high demand.

Despite its cost, the smart contract auditing process is essential to fix code flaws, which could result in security vulnerabilities and much higher costs over time, or even the complete failure of the project due to an attack. cybercriminal on the net.

How long does it take to do an Audit?

Depending on the project, number of lines of code, and urgency, the initial audit process can take anywhere from 2-14 days. The audit could take up to a month for very large projects or protocols.

The client receives recommendations for solutions to implement after the initial audit is complete, and the client determines the time it will take to correct any reported errors. After that, a remediation check takes place which usually takes one day.

Cyphershield is a leading smart contract audit company. Protect your smart contract from vulnerabilities and scams. Get advice from experts.