What is Forta Firewall: Redefining Onchain Security with AI-Driven Exploit Prevention

Forta Firewall is an innovative security solution designed to prevent malicious transactions before they can be executed on blockchain networks. 

By integrating directly into transaction flows, Forta Firewall acts as a digital shield—screening, flagging, and blocking high-risk activities to protect decentralized systems from exploits and security breaches.

Read More: Forta (FORT) Surges 54%: Understanding the Price Jump

Key Takeaways:

• Proactive Protection: Detects and halts harmful transactions before they are included in a block.
• Versatile Integration: Works seamlessly with rollups and smart contract protocols.
• Advanced AI Security: Leverages a cutting-edge machine learning model, FORTRESS, for rapid and accurate threat detection.

What is Forta Firewall?

Forta Firewall is an onchain exploit prevention network that stops malicious transactions in their tracks. Much like a Web2 application firewall filters harmful Internet traffic, Forta Firewall screens transaction flows on the blockchain to block or delay potential threats. Its design ensures that risky transactions are intercepted before they reach the block, adding an essential layer of security to decentralized systems.

How Forta Firewall Works

Forta Firewall integrates into the transaction process to inspect and evaluate pending transactions in real time. Depending on the use case, its deployment can vary:

For Rollups

In rollup environments, Forta Firewall collaborates with a rollup’s “RaaS” (Rollup as a Service) provider. Transaction data is routed to the Firewall for screening before it reaches the sequencer. 

Any transaction deemed high risk is flagged and filtered out, ensuring that only safe transactions proceed for block inclusion.

For Protocols

For individual protocols, Forta Firewall integrates at the smart contract level. Specific transactions are required to include an on-chain attestation—evidence that the transaction has passed automated security checks.

If a transaction is flagged as high risk, it won’t receive the necessary attestation and will revert, preventing potentially malicious actions.

Censorship Resistance and the Forta Chain

To maintain a balance between security and censorship resistance, Forta Firewall doesn’t permanently block high-risk transactions. 

Instead, such transactions are delayed—providing the user with encrypted details about the flagged activity while affording them time to address any issues.

The encrypted data is recorded on the Forta Chain, a dedicated Layer 3 rollup designed exclusively to support Forta Firewall operations. 

The Forta Chain maintains a secure, decentralized record of screened, delayed, and blocked transactions, minimizing central points of failure while preserving a degree of user control and transparency.

Advanced AI with FORTRESS

At the heart of Forta Firewall’s detection capabilities is FORTRESS, an advanced AI model trained on historical exploits. FORTRESS examines transaction logs and assigns each transaction a risk score from 0 to 1. 

Transactions with scores near 1 are highly likely to be malicious and are consequently blocked.

FORTRESS operates in under 50 milliseconds, ensuring that the screening process is both fast and highly accurate, with an exploit detection recall exceeding 99% and an exceptionally low false positive rate.

Integration and Use Cases

Forta Firewall is versatile enough to be integrated into various blockchain infrastructures:

• Rollup Integration: Through partnerships with providers like Conduit, rollups can opt into Firewall protection during their configuration process, ensuring baseline security and regulatory compliance (e.g., OFAC screening).
• Protocol-Level Integration: Protocols can seamlessly embed the Firewall Proxy contract to enforce transaction safety checks without lengthy audit processes, providing immediate security enhancements.

By embedding these protections directly into rollups and protocols, Forta Firewall not only mitigates risks but also helps build trust in decentralized finance and other onchain applications.

FAQs

Q1: How does Forta Firewall prevent malicious transactions?
A1: Forta Firewall integrates into the transaction flow, screening all pending transactions using advanced AI. High-risk transactions are either blocked or delayed until they can be safely processed.

Q2: What role does the Forta Chain play in this system?
A2: The Forta Chain serves as a decentralized ledger that records encrypted data about screened transactions. It helps ensure censorship resistance by delaying, rather than permanently blocking, high-risk transactions and maintains transparency of Firewall operations.

Q3: How does FORTRESS contribute to the system’s security?
A3: FORTRESS is an AI model that analyzes transaction logs and assigns risk scores. It processes transactions in under 50 milliseconds, effectively identifying and flagging potential exploits with over 99% accuracy.