In December, the web3 community welcomed the arrival of Web3 Antivirus, a solution that aims to help users stay away from phishing scams and dangerous smart contracts. We caught up with W3A founder Alex Dulub and asked him to share some details about this exciting project.

Alex, could you introduce yourself to our readers, please?

Hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. As you already mentioned, my name is Alex and I am the founder of Web3 Antivirus. I have always been fascinated by cutting edge technologies like blockchain and AI and of course I am a huge fan of web3.

This interest eventually led me to establish my software development and consulting company, PixelPlex. This year we celebrate our 15th anniversary, and I think the release of Web3 Antivirus is a great way to commemorate this milestone.

How did you come up with the idea of ​​creating Web3 Antivirus?

Well, while working on auditing and creating smart contracts with my team, we saw a lot of fraud, which led to detrimental results. It’s horrible how millions of dollars can be lost to scams with just a few clicks.

Obviously, there was an urgent need for a security solution capable of detecting specific web3 threats such as malicious smart contracts, fraudulent transactions, and phishing. Also, it would have been great to have a clear understanding of what exact smart contract you are signing without having to do extensive research. So I thought, why not build such a tool myself?

The invaluable knowledge of how different web3 scams work and ways to detect them that I gained from years of working on blockchain-based projects became the foundation for Web3 Antivirus.

How does W3A work?

W3A is a browser extension, something of a protective layer between a user and the dangers they may encounter in the web3 space. The solution stops a transaction, analyzes it and presents the risk assessment report in 2 seconds, specifying what can go wrong if a user confirms the transaction.

Additionally, W3A is capable of call stack tracing, allowing you to examine all smart contracts linked to the transaction instead of only checking the one you are currently interacting with.

As a result, users get the risk level of the transaction with the list of all detected dangers. With a full picture of what to expect, users can make an informed decision on whether to approve or reject the transaction.

In addition, the solution compares domain names against a vast database using AI similarity matching and identifies suspicious URLs. If a user is directed to a phishing or untrustworthy site, W3A blocks it immediately.

Importantly, the extension requires no configuration and never asks for access to wallets, assets, or a seed phrase.

Which are your future plans?

Now, we are working to expand the range of supported wallets and blockchains, with BNB and Solana coming soon. Also, the extension will soon have a completely new feature, W3A Dashboard. Think of it like an account that records the history of threats you’ve encountered, along with a detailed list of transactions and delegated token rights.

And we never stop updating the audit methodology. Soon, in addition to the risk assessment report, users will be able to see all the steps of the transaction simulation and the dangers associated with each of them.

We are also implementing advanced NFT analytics covering historical data and a rich machine learning layer capable of detecting financial fraud, defining wallet risk scores, IP breaches, cheating, etc.

Who can benefit from Web3 Antivirus?

No matter what your web3 goals are, be it transacting or just browsing websites – W3A is for all web3 adopters. Additionally, web3 projects such as non-fungible token collections (NFTs) or DeFi protocols can be validated by the solution. This is a win-win scenario as projects will get a “security label” while we update our data layer.

Our goal is to become a community-driven project with members able to contribute to the development of W3A with their research and contract validation and earn rewards. This will allow the extension to enrich its databases faster and be able to detect fraud more accurately.

Web3 users require the credibility of the solutions they use. How will you make sure they can trust W3A?

Web3 Antivirus will never request user seed phrases or access to wallets or assets. Also, the solution is open source, so users can fork our GitHub code and verify that no hidden processes are taking place.

What sets W3A apart from its competitors?

The most crucial difference is that Web3 Antivirus runs a deep risk scan, informing users about the overall risk level of the transaction and what exact threats are detected. Meanwhile, our competitors don’t do as deep a research.

W3A achieves this high level of detail thanks to its sophisticated infrastructure that includes complex technical solutions, such as indexing and structuring of data derived directly from the Ethereum network.

One more advantage is that W3A has a team of well-versed smart contract developers and auditors who investigate web3 scams on a daily basis and update the solution.

What is the most unique risk that W3A detects?

Let’s say it’s the ability of a smart contract to adapt and transform according to the number of tokens a user owns. For example, a smart contract can set a limit on trading a given token, usually a highly valuable one, and make it non-transferable. Thus, what at first seems like a very profitable operation, turns out to be a waste of money.

Can you share your thoughts on the release of Web3 Antivirus at Product Hunt?

Sure, it was a great experience! W3A was ranked in the top 10 solutions of the day. We received a lot of support and saw genuine interest in our product. I think announcing Web3 Antivirus there helped us raise awareness among the web3 community and encourage people who were hesitant to contribute to web3.