in 2018 alone, cybercrime cost the world $3 trillion. By 2021, it is expected to rise to $6 trillion per year.
Hacken combines blockchain and cybersecurity to address this problem through a wide range of services geared for both businesses and consumers, respectively.
Like other blockchain cybersecurity platforms, HackenAI has its own native token which can be used to pay for the products and services it provides.
Table of Contents
Background
The Hacken company was founded in August 2017 by a group of cybersecurity experts and white hackers. Since then, they have performed over a hundred security audits on different companies across the blockchain space.
The team has a combined experience of 50 years in the cybersecurity space and has worked with big and small clients alike, in industries such as manufacturing, banking, e-commerce, and transportation.
Furthermore, they have a community of over 2,000 cybersecurity researchers and have secured partnerships with various big-time industry players like CoinMarketCap, Bitfury, and Etherscan.
There are two main components of Hacken: the Hacken company/ecosystem which provides B2B products, and the HackenAI platform which serves as a cybersecurity companion app for consumers.
Hacken
Hacken is a cybersecurity ecosystem that offers a suite of products and services to help companies and organizations remain secure amidst the existing perils of the online world. In addition, they have served several blockchain companies in the past.
B2B Products
Hackenproof
HACKENPROOF is a bug bounty platform designed to help companies secure their digital assets and private data through crowdsourced cyber protection. You could think of this as the GoFundMe or Kickstarter of blockchain-based cybersecurity, where an entity outsources its cyber protection to a community of white hat hackers.
Advantages
- Hacken provides accurate information, transparent reporting, and 24/7 analytics.
- Hacken attracts a large group of competent cybersecurity researchers from different backgrounds.
- The Hacken platform manages all operational issues including bug validation, communication with cybersecurity experts, and coordination of operational activities.
Security Assessments
Hacken employs in-house specialists that provide a full range of professional cybersecurity services to protect systems, networks, and applications from cyber breaches and human error.
- Web Application Penetration Testing
- Mobile Application Testing
- DDoS Resistance Testing
- Social Engineering
- Network Penetration Testing
Blockchain Security Consulting
Hacken had carried out over 150 security checks for blockchain companies from 2017-2019, establishing as one of the top players in blockchain cybersecurity.
Their services include smart contract audits, DApp security reviews, blockchain protocol reviews, formal verification. They’ve audited tokens based on Ethereum, EOS, Tron, Vechain, and other blockchains.
Crypto Exchange Ranks
CER is a digital asset auditor designed to analyze crypto exchange data and publish them on a webpage or an application. This provides users with transparency and prevents the falsification of data.
CER issues certificates on:
- Solvency
- Liquidity
- Cyber Security
- Community
Being a CERtified exchange means that they complied with the highest cybersecurity standards, which Hacken’s audits ensure.
As of April 2020, only seven exchanges have been certified including Coinbase Pro, Binance, and Bitfinex.
B2B Goals in 2020
Image taken from HackenAI whitepaper
HackenAI
HackenAI is a blockchain cybersecurity application that protects users’ digital assets as well as incentivizes them to learn cybersecurity best practices.
Hacken has recognized that most people don’t invest enough in cybersecurity. Most of them think that it’s not necessary or urgent. While exchanges with bigger pots of gold are the prime targets of the most sophisticated hackers in the world, a lot of bottom-feeders actually prefer the smaller individuals.
Why? They are the most complacent, which makes them the perfect victims.
Yet most people only seek professional help after a cyberattack has been made or if their system or accounts have been breached. But by then, it would already be too late.
Features
Here are the features of the HackenAI platform:
CyberBootCamp
The CyberBootCamp is the gateway to the world of cybersecurity. New users with no cybersecurity background will have the opportunity to earn HAI tokens by completing the program.
They start with a dashboard of practical educational modules consisting of anti-phishing, privacy, data protection rules, and many more lessons. After completing the BootCamp, they will achieve a 99.9% level of protection against online threats.
Password manager
HackenAI’s password manager enables users to add, import, or export passwords in one click while keeping their data in one device. In order to sync the data with other devices or restore it from a lost phone, they need to enter a twelve-word seed phrase.
Two-factor authentication
If you’ve been trading cryptocurrencies for a while, then you likely know about 2FA. Similar to Google Authenticator, HackenAI has the capability of generating one-time passwords (OTP) for verification every time users need to access their online accounts.
Account monitoring
Hacken combines blockchain and cybersecurity to consistently track all potential threats and malpractices and instantly prompts users with factual, detailed information.
Secure storage
User data is stored as securely as passwords. Furthermore, the data is encrypted in transit in the event that it needs to be shared on insecure channels.
VPN
A VPN secures your network using encryption and other security tools, which prevent your data from being intercepted. This is particularly useful for accessing websites that are banned in your area or to simply stay anonymous while surfing the web.
HackenAI’s premium VPN service takes things a step further by blocking unwanted ads too.
Wallet
HackenAI also provides a non-custodial crypto wallet, which means that the user alone holds his private key, not the Hacken company. This decentralized wallet supports the following cryptocurrencies:
- BTC
- ETH
- VeChainThor (VET)
- VIP-180 (VTHO, HAI)
- Ethereum tokens (ERC-20)
- Binance Chain tokens (BEP-2)
Digital asset tracker
The digital asset tracker allows users to connect all exchange accounts, crypto wallets, and other crypto investments and consolidate them into one account. This allows users to track the performance of their assets in the market.
This also makes filing taxes easier since all your records are in one place.
The tracker, however, doesn’t allow trading in the platform itself using the API’s of various exchanges, as they only employ read-only API credentials. Being cybersecurity experts, the Hacken team sees an API as a backdoor window, and most often than not, the weakest point of an exchange’s security.
CER
Hacken’s Crypto Exchange Ranking module is also integrated with HackenAI. This webpage allows users to check constantly-updated information about all crypto exchanges.
Tokenomics
The HackenAI platform is powered by its native currency, HAI token, which you can use to pay for all the services the platform provides, including its B2B products and its white-hat hacker community. At the Beta release, users can pay subscription fees using HAI tokens only.
Later on, the platform will provide payment gateways for other cryptocurrencies as well as fiat for the same services mentioned.
Use cases
The HAI token can be used all throughout the Hacken ecosystem.
- Paying for the HackenAI subscription fee
- Paying for Hacken’s B2B services
- Purchase of 3rd party products from HackenAI cybersecurity marketplace
- Staking program
- Corporate governance
How to get HAI
There are a variety of ways to acquire HAI:
- Buy at an exchange
- Earn at the Hackenproof bug bounty platform
- Referral bonus for sharing the platform
- Swap HKN tokens
- Educational mining (bonus rewards for completing CyberBootCamp and other cybersecurity tasks)
Technology
HAI is a VIP180 token, which is minted on the VechainThor blockchain. It is a utility designed to power most of the activities conducted on the Hacken ecosystem, HackenAI platform, and white hat community.
VeChainThor blockchain
According to their whitepaper, the Hacken team had evaluated all major blockchain platforms and have concluded, without a doubt, that the VechainThor blockchain is the best available option.
This means that the success of the HackenAI platform is tied to capabilities of the Vechain’s blockchain unless they decide to migrate in the future.
Conclusion
Hacken provides a valuable blockchain cybersecurity solution in an age of prevalent security violations, offering both businesses and average consumers the opportunity to secure their digital assets and data.
They also provide a wide range of uses for HAI both in their B2B products and HackenAI platform. This gives the currency value and allows holders to potentially profit if its price goes up.
The only confusing part of their decisions is the planned acceptance of other cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies for their services. Since other modes of payment are allowed, it might undermine the value of HAI.
Another concern is on the consumer side. What if people aren’t going to proactively practice proper cybersecurity habits?
Sure, they might complete the BootCamp for the reward incentives, but finishing a course and putting all the lessons into practice consistently are two different things.
All in all, the project definitely has potential and it appears that the team behind it is quite competent in what they do.