Bridge attacks will still pose a major challenge for DeFi in 2023: Security experts

cointelegraph.com:

Security has been a critical challenge for decentralized finance (DeFi) and its evolution. Between 2020 and 2022, hackers stole over $2.5 billion through vulnerabilities on cross-chain bridges, Token Terminal data shows. Compared to other security breaches, this is a substantial amount.

Issues with bridges have a root cause: All of them have an "inherent vulnerability," Theo Gauthier, founder and CEO of Toposware, told Cointelegraph. According to Gauthier, no matter how secure a bridge is on its own, it is "entirely reliant on the security of the chains it connects," meaning that any breach or bug within one of the two bridged chains makes the overall bridge vulnerable.

Briefly, bridges are used to connect different blockchains and aim to address the lack of standards between protocols. Interoperability between blockchains is considered to be a critical goal for enhancing the end-user experience and promoting broader crypto adoption.

Solutions for interoperability and security in the crypto industry are gaining traction despite the bear market. One of the major technologies available is zero-knowledge rollups (ZKPs), which allow data to be verified and proven as accurate without revealing further information, unlike typical interoperability solutions that require networks to disclose their states.

Related: Industry execs voice confidence in DeFi adoption despite security flaws

Through ZKPs, it is also possible to create a ZK-powered Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), noted Polygon's chief information security officer Mudit Gupta, allowing developers to launch scalable and completely private Ethereum compatible smart contracts. Gupta also noted that:

For bridges, the solution would be auditing and real-time monitoring standards,