Sui Foundation Partners Blockaid to Boost Security After $29M Loss

The Sui Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with Blockaid to bolster the security of its ecosystem. This collaboration aims to provide enhanced protection for Sui wallets and to address various security threats, including smart contract exploits, offchain threats, and operational faults within the Sui network.

The Sui Foundation is dedicated to fostering the growth of Sui, a layer-1 blockchain that was launched in May 2023. The blockchain is designed to create a decentralized network capable of handling a high volume of transactions with minimal delay. The Sui network has seen significant growth, with the total number of accounts reaching 67.3 million in 2024. As of March 11, the total value locked in the Sui ecosystem was $1.1 billion, reflecting a decrease from $2 billion on January 6.

Blockaid, a leading provider of security tools in the Web3 space, has recently secured $50 million in Series B funding. The company has a proven track record of protecting clients such as Stellar, Avalanche, and Coinbase. In November 2024, Blockaid partnered with Backpack to prevent potential losses of $26.6 million from decentralized finance attacks on the Solana network. This partnership underscores Blockaid's expertise in safeguarding digital assets and enhancing the security of blockchain ecosystems.

Recent incidents have highlighted the need for enhanced security measures within the Sui network. On January 26, a malicious attack resulted in a $29 million loss for a user on the Sui network. The stolen funds were mixed using Tornado Cash, making it difficult to trace the theft due to limitations in the Sui blockchain explorer and analytics tools. Additionally, in June 2023, Sui issued a $500,000 bounty to blockchain security firm CertiK for discovering another threat to the network. These incidents underscore the importance of proactive security measures to protect users and maintain the integrity of the Sui ecosystem.

In a September 2024 post on Medium, blockchain security firm SlowMist conducted a detailed analysis of the Sui network. The analysis highlighted that while the Move programming language, used by Sui, mitigates many common smart contract vulnerabilities, there is still a need for coding audits. SlowMist noted that the Move language excels at preventing common smart contract vulnerabilities, making Sui more robust and reliable from a technical standpoint. However, developers must still pay attention to business logic security, particularly in areas such as permission management, object type usage, and token consumption, to avoid asset loss due to coding errors or improper design.

According to Sui, while the Move design can prevent many common vulnerabilities seen in other networks, it could still be vulnerable to protocol-level attacks. These threats include timestamp dependence, logic errors, insecure randomness, and gas limit vulnerabilities. The partnership with Blockaid is expected to address these potential vulnerabilities and enhance the overall security of the Sui ecosystem, ensuring a safer environment for users and developers alike.