"KEKKAI ZONE" Conference on Security in the Web 3.0 Field Held - Event Report

KEKKAI Inc., a startup that develops tools to prevent NFT fraud, held a conference on the theme of blockchain security, "KEKKAI ZONE," on April 13th at "CryptoBase＠NIB SHIBUYA," a shared office specializing in Web 3.0 in Shibuya, Tokyo.

This event was co-sponsored by GoPlus and Alibaba Cloud, and many companies, projects, and media participated as supporters.

▶︎Co-sponsored/Sponsored/Supporting Companies

At present, as technologies and fields that utilize blockchain are gaining popularity, centered around the word Web 3.0, strengthening security has become an urgent issue as the number of entrants increases.

The total annual damage caused by cryptocurrency fraud in 2022 is expected to exceed 490 billion yen, about three times the previous year, and the scale of damage is expanding.

In order to reduce such damage, this event focused on current fraud cases and the latest topics and technologies related to Web 3.0 security.

The conference attracted a large number of participants, indicating growing interest in security in the Web 3.0 field.

▶︎Danny, KEKKAI

The first person to appear was Danny, founder and CEO of KEKKAI Co., Ltd. Danny introduced KEKKAI, a browser extension developed and operated by KEKKAI that protects users from fraud.

The main function of the plug-in is to simulate transactions when making a transaction to understand what kind of transaction will be made.

If there is a possibility of fraudulent activity in which your NFTs or assets may be stolen, a warning pop-up will be displayed. This significantly increases the chances of preventing malicious phishing scams.

The conference started in earnest with a video message from OneKey, one of the sponsors. OneKey is a company that deals with hardware wallets and other products, and entered into a partnership with KEKKAI in March of this year.

After that, sessions began with Eskil, co-founder of GoPlus, a Singapore-based Web 3.0 security startup, and Hironobu Izumi, senior solutions architect at Alibaba Cloud.

▶Eskil, GoPlus

GoPlus Security Engine, developed by Eskil's GoPlus, provides security-enhancing APIs that are compatible with many major networks, and aims to create a safe Web 3.0 environment.

Specific examples include the Token Security API for general investors, the Malicious Address API for detecting malicious addresses, and the NFT Security API for NFTs.

In the session, Eskil warned participants that "signing in real time requires caution, and that clicking is really safe." In fact, everyone has probably had the experience of clicking a link unintentionally at least once.

In the Web 3.0 realm, such "carelessness" can lead to the loss of assets, so it is something to be careful of again.

▶︎Izumi, Alibaba Cloud

Alibaba Cloud handles cloud services for the entire Alibaba Group. It is the third largest cloud service company in the world. Speaking at the event, Izumi touched on the current security situation, saying, "We are being attacked by some of the world's largest attacks almost every day."

As part of its Web 3.0 security, Alibaba Cloud offers "ID Verification," which uses cutting-edge AI to implement long-distance intelligent authentication of user IDs, "ID Verification-AML," which prevents anti-money laundering (AML), and "ID Verification-MPC," which uses key shards with its own MPC encryption to calculate the final valid signature without disclosing the private key and shard.

He expressed his ambition to contribute to security by utilizing these products.

▶︎From the left: Toda, KEKKAI; Yakaku, OKCoinJapan; Abe, Hyperithm; Kinoshita, Skyland Ventures

The talk session started with a Japanese panel. Yudai Toda, CMO of KEKKAI; Daisuke Yakaku, COO of OKCoinJapan; Yoshihiko Kinoshita, founder and CEO of Skyland Ventures; and Yoshikazu Abe, CSO of Hyperithm, a crypto asset wealth management company, took to the stage.

First, Toda sounded the alarm about the low level of security for users in the current Web 3.0 area.

When it comes to fraud, most people think of it as something like "it's me" fraud, and that they won't fall victim to it, but he pointed out that even advanced crypto users are actually falling prey to fraud.

He also said that last year was called the "winter of crypto assets," but among fraudsters and other criminals it was called the "drainers' summer," and phishing scams were at their peak, ironically making it the "summer year" for scammers.

Recently, phishing scams have become rampant on social media sites such as Twitter, and fraud methods are evolving year by year. As for future developments, Toda said he aims to realize a society in which MetaMask is implemented first and KEKKAI is implemented second.

▶︎From the left: Eskil from GoPlus, Foo from Safeheron, Danny from KEKKAI

The English panel started next.

The speakers were Danny from KEKKAI, Eskil from GoPlus, and Jag Foo, head of business development at Safeheron, which provides self-custody solutions for Web 3.0 businesses. Foo's point that security theft cases related to private key management and permissions have increased in the past year was particularly striking.

▶︎From the left: Ou from CoolBitX, Lin from SBI, Jack from Deloitte

The next English panel featured Michael Ou, CEO of CoolBitX, which develops and sells the smartphone-linked hardware wallet "CoolWallet," Kefei Lin, a senior developer at SBI, and Jack from Deloitte, an accounting firm that aims to use blockchain to streamline supply chain management and provide robust security.

During the talk, Ou stressed the importance of security, citing the fact that the official account of the NFT project Azuki had been hacked the previous day. He also emphasized that accounts require double checks. CoolBitX said it will actively collaborate with KEKKAI in the future.

Finally, there was an introduction to the blockchain event "TEAMZ WEB3 SUMMIT TOKYO JAPAN" to be held at Toranomon Hills on May 17th and 18th this year.

At this event, experts in the Web 3.0 field from Japan and abroad will be invited to give lectures and hold panel discussions on various topics.

After the sessions, a networking session was held, and the conference ended with great success.

This conference was held as a side event of the global hackathon event "ETHGlobal Tokyo" held from April 14th to 16th, so it was impressive to see many participants from overseas.

It was a day to think about security, one of the biggest challenges in the Web 3.0 field, and at the same time, it was a day that breathed a global wind. It was also impressive to see the participants listening intently to the talk sessions and lectures.

KEKKAI is a startup that was just founded in January this year, but it held an event inviting top players in the security field, and founder Danny and others held a high-level session.

From this, it can be said that this event made us even more excited to see what they do in the future.

Images: KEKKAI, Iolite

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