The Secure Smart Contract Development Roadmap

The essential blueprint for crafting secure protocols

In 2023 alone, decentralized protocols were hacked for a combined value of $1.8 billion. The persistence of security breaches, even in systems that have gone through multiple security audits, raises critical questions.

Why do these vulnerabilities persist, and how can developers minimize the risk of these issues?

Smart contract protocols, as ultra-critical pieces of immutable software, require a more thorough and carefully designed development process than traditional applications. A minor oversight can lead to repercussions of monumental scale, with potential losses reaching into the billions. This high-stakes environment demands a paradigm shift in development practices, one that mirrors the rigor applied in the creation of the mission-critical systems like aviation and healthcare. Embracing this approach from day one enhances the effectiveness of each subsequent stage, serving as the secret to ensuring an exponential reduction in the likelihood of errors throughout the development process and culminating in a clean and secure codebase.

The answer to creating secure protocols lies not in the frequency of security audits but in their effectiveness, as well as in the ability to conduct effective failure-based stress testing . A common misconception is that a security audit is the silver bullet for all potential security flaws. However, the reality is more nuanced. Audits depend heavily on humans reading code and the efficacy of that process can vary greatly depending on the condition of the codebase. By following a series of steps and thought processes, you can significantly enhance the auditability of your protocol, thereby reducing the likelihood of missed issues.

The purpose of this guide is to provide a structured approach to ensure that your protocol is properly tested and optimized for a thorough and effective examination. The guide will also cover what to do after an audit in order to interpret its results correctly and safely deploy and monitor your contracts. The secure development lifecycle can be segmented into six main phases: Plan, Code, Test, Audit, Deploy, and Monitor. These are the thought processes that distinguish secure protocols from insecure ones.

Contents

1. Planning

• 1.1. Technical specifications
• 1.2. Threat Modeling

2. Code

• 2.1. Code clarity
• 2.2. Code analysis
• 2.3. Documentation
• 2.4. Defensive Programming

3. Testing

• 3.1 Functional testing
• 3.2. Security testing
• 3.3. Testing Processes
• 3.4. Fuzzing

4. Auditing

• 4.1. Internal reviews
• 4.2. Before the audit
• 4.3. During the audit
• 4.4. After the audit

5. Deployments

• 5.1. Deployment Scripts
• 5.2. Testing your deployments on a fork
• 5.3. Secure Upgrades
• 5.4. Choosing the right deployment and upgrade stack

6. Operating

• 6.1. Before touching web3
• 6.2. Incident response plan
• 6.3. Plan monitoring in advance
• 6.4. Deploying Monitoring