Key facts
- Solana Foundation CISO Michael Coates warns AI is enhancing crypto scams.
- Attackers are increasingly targeting human vulnerabilities through social engineering and AI-generated deepfakes.
- Recent crypto security incidents stemmed from operational security issues and compromised credentials, not smart contract flaws.
- Coates stressed the need for crypto security to match Web2 standards and protect users by default.
- Solana is preparing for quantum computing by exploring post-quantum cryptography.
Michael Coates, the Chief Information Security Officer at the Solana Foundation, has issued a warning that artificial intelligence is making cryptocurrency scams increasingly sophisticated and effective. Coates, who previously served as CISO at Twitter and led security at Mozilla, stated that attackers are shifting their focus from smart contract vulnerabilities to exploiting human weaknesses through advanced social engineering tactics, including AI-generated deepfakes and spoofed calls.
He noted that many recent high-profile security incidents in the crypto space were not due to flaws in blockchain protocols themselves, but rather resulted from operational security failures or compromised credentials, often referred to as Web2 issues. Coates emphasized that the crypto industry must adopt robust security measures comparable to those in traditional Web2 companies, while also addressing the unique challenges of Web3.