An audit of a smart contract is conducted using a substantially standardized procedure. While each reviewer may take a slightly different approach, the standard procedure is as follows:
1. Define the scope of the audit
The smart contract and project requirements are determined by the project (and its intended purpose) and the overall architecture. A specification allows the audit team to understand the goals of the project while writing and running the code.
The smart contract specification and other related documentation provide detailed descriptions of the project architecture, construction process, and design decisions. Typically, a description of the specification may be found in the project's README file.
2. Unit Test
In this case, the developer's responsibility is to write unit test cases. While running the unit tests, the auditor checks if the smart contract works as expected. At this point, smart contract auditors use testnets and auditing tools to ensure unit tests cover all relevant risks.
In addition, the tests provide smart contract reviewers with access to unofficial documentation that provides additional details about the functionality of the planned project.
3. Hand Control
The most important part of the audit process. The auditor checks each line of code for errors.
4. Automated Audit
After the manual verification, the auditor performs a detailed verification of the code using control tools such as Slither, Scribble, Mythril and MythX. Reviewers recommend a smart contract audit based on identified vulnerabilities and code optimization.
5. Initial Report
The auditor prepares an initial draft of the report, including errors found, and then sends it to the project development team for comments and relevant corrections.
6. Final Report
The final step in the smart contract audit process is the final writing of an audit report. Auditors must complete manual and automated testing and analysis processes before producing a detailed audit report. They publish the final report after considering all the steps taken by the team to resolve the reported issues.
Penetration Test for Smart Contract
By conducting penetration tests, you can prevent cybersecurity-related catastrophes that could damage your company's reputation and result in huge financial loss. The effective exploitation of smart contract vulnerabilities will allow both the detection of serious security vulnerabilities and the identification of possible entry points to information systems.
Black Box Test
In "black box" testing, a penetration tester tests a smart contract without being aware of its internal workings. A tester enters the data and monitors the output generated by the smart contract under test. This helps identify smart contract response times, usability and reliability issues, and how the contract responds to anticipated and unexpected user activities.
Gray Box Test
Gray box testing is a smart contract testing method used to test a smart contract knowing only part of its internal structure. Gray box testing looks for and identifies vulnerabilities caused by poor smart contract structure or code usage.
White Box Test
White box testing looks at the internal structures of a smart contract versus testing the functionality of a smart contract. It is also known as transparent box test, transparent box test, glass box test, and structural test.
This test's objective is a comprehensive system analysis. Determines the range and damage output of an attacking team.
