Top 10 Smart Contract Audit Companies: How to Make Use of Their Effective Services

By Irene Kimutu
16 Min Read

When it comes to auditing smart contracts, there are several  companies that specialize in this field. But due to the rising demand for smart contract auditing,this has led to  the popularity of the top smart contract auditing companies.

Smart contract Audit  are self-executing contracts  with the terms of the agreement directly executing programs. They improve the actions required in an agreement enabling parties to engage in transactions or exchanges without the need of a go-between.Some of the smart top Audits companies include Hacken,Trail of Bits,Slowmist and CertiK among others.

They require a thorough blockchain audit to help companies avoid reputational damage and data breaches hence gaining momentum due to the need for smart audits making them become digital products.

But before going deep into explaining the top smart contracts Audits companies and how to make use of their effective services,there is a need to understand more what Smart Audits is.

What are Smart contract Audits?

Smart contracts Audits are written and Instead of relying on traditional legal documents and manual enforcement, smart contracts use blockchain technology  to automate and enforce the terms and conditions of the agreement making it an essential process. Smart contracts Audits ensure reliability,security and reputability of smart audits.In total they assure investors and customers that the contract will work according to plan and their financial assets are secure.

Smart contract Audit,also known as blockchain, is the process of evaluating and verifying the functionality and reliability of smart contracts. It is also an extensive methodical examination and analysis of a smart contract’s code that is used to interact with cryptocurrency. It involves conducting a comprehensive review of the smart contract’s code, logic, and execution to identify any vulnerabilities or potential risks. 

This process is conducted to discover errors, issues and security vulnerabilities then the code suggests improvements and ways to fix them.

Why is Smart Contract Auditing Important?

There are several benefits of lifting smart contracts development. Let’s know each one of them one by one in brief:

Security

Smart contract security audits assist you in identifying potential security vulnerabilities in your system. They allow you to address these vulnerabilities before a malicious party takes advantage of them.They help identify security weaknesses and potential attack vectors in the smart contract. This enables addressing vulnerabilities  hence reducing the risk of financial loss, hacking, or unauthorized access.

Reliability

Based on its reliability it forms the basis on which the auditor of the company can express his opinion on the company’s financial statements during the period under consideration.It ensures that smart contracts function as intended and perform their intended operations accurately. By reviewing the code and conducting thorough testing, auditors verify the logic and behavior of the smart contract under various scenes. 

This helps prevent coding errors, logic flaws, or unintended consequences that could compromise the reliability of the contract.

Speed

The absence of intermediaries reduces the economic cost as well as the time cost. Since this is done automatically, the time invested is reduced compared to contracts done manually and in the presence of a third party.

They enable developers to accelerate the deployment of their smart contracts. By having an efficient audit process in place, companies can minimize delays and bring their products or services to market faster, gaining a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving blockchain ecosystem.

Cost reduction

Cost reduction measures  help result in a bottom line increase in profit and also aims at the elimination of wasteful elements in normal business operations. It also involves critical examination of various elements of costs and each aspect of the business.

They involve  procedures and supplier management including financial planning, analytics, and ongoing monitoring of agreements.

Cost reduction has some superiority which involves saving money, improving efficiency, and reducing waste as well as improving stakeholder relations. However, anything that has an advantage comes with a disadvantage, and for cost reduction, drawbacks involve time-consuming, complexity, and resistance to change.

1.Hacken

Hacken
Source: Hacken

Hacken is the first entry among the list of smart contract auditing companies. It was founded by security specialists and white hat hackers in 2017. It is a cybersecurity consulting and contracting company that specializes in providing a wide range of blockchain security services to businesses and organizations. Hacken,blockchain and auditing go hand in hand. At present, the provider allows comprehensive smart contract audits from many angles.

To understand more about security in blockchain, read this article – Security in Blockchain: Threats and Best Practices for Developers.

Hacken’s experts can review the project’s smart contract technology, test it for the presence of bugs and critical errors, and expose it to systematic and structured code review. All these efforts are made to model system threats and intercept DDoS attacks on the system.

Hacken undertakes thorough token audits by applying their in-depth knowledge about smart contract algorithms and the blockchain’s encryption technology. After a detailed audit of the smart contract, Hacken guarantees that your project is theft-proof, thus improving user trust and asset security.

2.Slowmist

Slowmist, a blockchain security firm was developed in 2018. They offer security, smart contract auditing, and vulnerability assessments aimed at helping businesses and projects secure their blockchain-based systems and applications.The company has formed alliances with several security firms, both foreign and domestic, including Akamai, Cloudflare and Fire Eye.

Slowmist has a distinct audit checklist for every blockchain technology, with different approaches to  EOS, and other technologies. Its algorithm of smart contract review covers detailed audits of:

  • Overflow
  • Race conditions
  • Vulnerability
  • Blockchain Security Assessment
  • Safety design
  • Malicious event 

Slowmist also  provides educational and training programs thus enhancing  knowledge and skills of developers, organizations, and individuals in the field of blockchain security. They offer slowmist  workshops, seminars, and customized training sessions to help participants understand and address blockchain-specific security challenges.

3.Trail of Bits

Trail-of-Bits
Source: Trail of Bits

Trail of Bits was founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York,It provides technical security assessment and advisory services to some of the world’s most targeted organizations.

Trail of Bits has three main services: Software Assurance, Security Engineering,and Research Development. Under its Software Assurance,the company provides security audits for blockchain, software hardening, infrastructure security and threat modeling.

Trail of Bits also operates a center of excellence with regard to blockchain security. Notable projects include audits of Algorand, Bitcoin SV, Chainlink, Compound, Ethereum 2.0, MakerDAO, Matic, Uniswap, Web3, and Zcash.The Trail of Bits team not only specializes in blockchain security, but they also create helpful tools like Manticore ,which can simulate multiple contracts and transactions to identify and solve crucial vulnerabilities.

4. Chainsulting

Chainsulting  is a  Germany-based company with high standards of auditing blockchain projects specializing  in security and  is run by experts from ETH Zurich. The company has provided assistance to over 85 different crypto organizations and established companies, including Maker, Compound and Rarible. It also empowers organizations with the knowledge and expertise needed to leverage blockchain technology effectively.

Chainsulting approaches every reviewed product with meticulousness and attention to detail, focusing on:

  • Smart contract’s functioning and inner logic;
  • Advisory Services
  • Compliance
  •  Development
  • Training,advisory and Education
  • Auditing
  • Exposure to vulnerabilities

ChainSulting has developed an automated audit platform which enables various projects to safeguard their assets by analyzing smart contracts. ChainSecurity offers security assessments for smart contracts and blockchain projects which  includes identifying vulnerabilities and verifying functional correctness, This is by issuing a certificate of compliance to successfully audited products and providing a full report with improvement recommendations to those whose security appears to be failing.

5.CertiK

CertiK
Source: CertiK

CertiK is a company that uses advanced artificial intelligence technology to safeguard and oversee blockchain protocols. It contributes  to the secure Web3 world. 

CertiK was founded in 2018 by  professors from Yale and Columbia, thus becoming one of the world’s best blockchain security providers.It has provided security services to more than 3,700 Enterprise clients, safeguarding digital assets valued at more than $364 billion.

The CertiK company uses a technology which  offers  a 360-degree account of the product’s. The CertiK auditors use a unique auditing algorithm that assesses the code’s logic and introduces a mathematical approach to the smart contract’s analysis.

6.SmartDec

SmartDec
Source: SmarDec

SmartDec is a blockchain security company that offers both static and dynamic analysis of smart contracts.They have been at the forefront of smart contract security for many years .Their staff of professional developers  find faults in your code and they emphasize on security where they have a track record of finding bugs in smart contracts.

The scope of SmartDec’s service spans across all types of blockchain products, ranging from simple dApps to large-scale cryptosystems:They include

  • Exchanges
  •  Blockchains
  • Wallets

To learn more about crypto and web3-specific wallets, follow this guide – Cryptocurrency Wallets: Explained

SmartDec company also audits the success of integration between smart contracts and third-party apps to ensure the safety of API connections.Here is an overview of  their offerings:

  • Verification
  • Consulting
  • Code review
  • Security training and analysis

7: Quantstamp

Quantstamp is a top smart contract auditing company in the blockchain industry which  focuses on auditing smart contracts and decentralized applications. They have conducted more than 200 audits and have helped secure over $200B, by  providing security reports and offering  remediation guidance to enhance the contract’s security. 

Quantstamp has a team of skilled developers who are capable of finding flaws in your code .The team comprises security professionals and PhDs who have previously worked with well-known tech companies such as Apple, Facebook and Google.

8. OpenZeppelin

OpenZeppelin
Source: Quanstamp

Openzeppelin  is a popular cybersecurity technology and services provider company, it is popular for the development of standard secure blockchain applications where  developers can easily integrate these libraries into their applications through OpenZeppelin’s native SDK.

Openzeppelin is the pioneer in integrating gamification into identifying security vulnerabilities in smart contrast ,uncovering and exploiting security weaknesses in smart contracts to help advance to the next level.OpenZeppelin has successfully safeguarded assets valued at over $10 billion and it also offers free services like “Defender”, which can support the automation of smart contract administration.

The defender provides a management platform that includes administration functions such as pause , upgrade, monitoring for contract events and function calls and a knowledgebase for smart contract security best practices.

9.Kudelski Security

Kudelski is a  company which was created in 2017 with offices in Europe and the USA dealing with blockchain security at multiple levels. It provides its clients with enterprise-level solutions  to help organizations enhance their cybersecurity.

Kudelski’s main mission is to contribute to the cyber resilience of innovative businesses and prevent a variety of tech threats.The company has completed 200 security audits, secured $230 billion in market cap, and audited 500,000 lines of code.

Kudelski organization also offers an in-depth security architecture overview, security solutions’ design and implementation, and security training for staff in companies transitioning to blockchain-based infrastructures.

10.Solidified

Solidified is a crowdsourced auditing platform that allows you to submit your smart contract for review by their community of expert auditors. It was Founded in 2017 and Solidified has audited some of the largest blockchain projects like Argent, Loopring, Nexus Mutual, Gnosis, Kyber and others. They have a staff of professional developers that can identify issues with your code since they prioritize security and have a track record of finding bugs in blockchain contracts.

Solidified has a variety of importance as it provides smart auditing which is a crucial tool in security enhancement and reliability.Its accountability and  transparency also contribute much in smart auditing contracts.

Solidified provides an open platform of auditing process which helps in  building trust between auditors, developers, and users of smart contracts as well as  creating a more secure and reliable ecosystem.

In high quality Assurance they have  established guidelines and standards to ensure consistent and high-quality audits which has  helped developers and organizations trust the audit reports and recommendations provided by Solidified.

Conclusion

With all the  knowledge of audit companies , it’s high  time to pick the best provider and conduct an end-to-end review of your blockchain product.

 No  matter which company you choose, it’s important to ensure that they have experience auditing smart contracts since this  will ensure that your contract is safe and secure before it goes into production.Therefore, smart contract audit companies are more of a necessity for projects in the blockchain.