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RECOVER+ Working Group Allows the Community to Breathe Easier
RECOVER+ Working Group Allows the Community to Breathe Easier

Published on November 26, 2022

Markus Hinrichs avatar
Written by Markus Hinrichs
Updated over a week ago

Author: Marco González

Editor: Randall Roland

Recover+ is a working group (WG+) established and funded by the EOS Network Foundation. The sixth working group is responsible for developing a framework that allows for quick response to hacks and pursues recovery of stolen assets. Tabbed as a lost asset recovery system, R+ presents more options, clearer parameters, is more effective, and improves efficiency.

Overview of the Recover+ Working Group

According to the ENF, Recover+:

“… aims to create a crisis management framework for EOS.”

As to what R+ crisis management might entail:

  • developing emergency contracts and protocols

  • guides, FAQs, and advice

  • DAO insurance

  • bounty rewards

  • web-based UI

Connecting with the Community

Among the aspects included in the coming Recover+ guide are recommended “steps”. In the past, EOS developed solutions but failed to provide a recovery framework that was well understood by the community. Early core developers spent an inordinate amount of time explaining new apps and functions. The ENF stated that:

Most project owners and DAOs on EOS do not have any experience with these types of attacks and are simply not equipped to deal with them.

What seems to be characteristic of the new ENF team is deep consideration of end users beginning early in the planning stages. A friendly R+ user interface aligns with the team’s primary objectives. Making the UI web-based demonstrates both, an awareness of what works in blockchain while flaunting EOS performance capabilities.

Recovery services will be accessible through a portal that connects BPs with project owners. The ENF describes the portal’s primary function as an informational bridge.

Responding to an Emergency

How the community seeks advice immediately following an exploit expects to also be standardized (at least to a degree). The new procedure allows for an emergency services team at the ready. Participants in the Recover+ emergency network expect to have premium tools and worked-out scenarios so that the time between an exploit and beginning recovery will be minimal.

Accounting for DAOs

New development particularly targets DAOs. Dapp innovations like browser-based functionality are also advanced. The importance of DAOs came into the spotlight just as Mandel 3.1 (now AntelopeIO) set to go live. EOS DAOs are being reexamined to define their core essence, operational standards, and how to provide the best environment for advancing new applications. No wonder why Recover+ strongly considers DAO insurance to help mitigate exploits.

Other Considerations

Decentralized technologies operate differently than conventional apps; that’s an understatement. From hackathon events to hiring bounty hunters, blockchain organizations uniquely leverage human resources. Recover+ may even support proposals for bounty rewards. It’s believed that bounties aid response time and asset recovery.

EOS Support: Ahead of the Curve

EOS Support aims to assist in providing emergency services. The team understands the value of a strong support network. Visionary founder Randall Roland believes in EOS and its untapped potential. It’s about people helping people.

Now, that development teams have thrown support behind Recover+, the EOS community can expand their venture. Of course, there’s more to helping new users onboard and operating the EOS mainnet than establishing the technicals of emergency services. EOS Support is as much about networking and relationships as it’s a full service help department for the mainnet.

About the Lead Team

Leading the Recover+ working group is PIZZA.FINANCE, a well-known and respected member of the EOS community. If you’re wondering why a team dedicated to financial enterprise aims to tackle lost account recovery and related matters, then you might want to dig into a bit of history. Read a quick overview of an exploit involving PIZZA.FINANCE in the next section.

PIZZA.FINANCE presents itself as an easy-to-use, fun app. It underscores the excitement and practicality of crypto over the doldrums of traditional finance. One might even draw correlations as to claiming their slice of the pie, or maybe, relate the concept to the first Bitcoin cash transaction.

Improving Recovery Protocols

The ENF chose PIZZA.FINANCE because the team proved resilient in recovering assets. In fact, it was this attack by ‘itsspiderman’ that brought attention to the need:

...for a more standardized approach for recovery.

Read the details of the hack in the ENF blue paper preview, Recover+: What To Do Next in an EOS Emergency.

Blacklisting, as one might imagine, is wildly unpopular in the blockchain space. So is rollbacking a chain. Nevertheless, even Bitcoin has been subject to such extreme measures. For EOS, blocking an account requires a consensus among all 21 BPs that must be maintained at all times.

Account restriction on EOS requires less effort (15 of 21 BPs) to enact. The action alters an account’s permission structure. BPs successfully recovered millions of dollars in stolen assets through the account restriction feature.

Neither legacy recovery protocol has undergone the type of scrutiny that the new Recover+ working group commits to today. On top of that, today’s EOS is more mature and better understood. It’s no doubt the Recover+ protocols will be lightyears ahead of anything currently deployed.

Concluding Remarks

It’s time to develop better recovery and prevention methods. Recover+ is integral to defending Antelope Leap and Yield+. Involving more of the community in important decisions will be of great benefit. Community input serves to support development and illuminate issues. For the first time in years, the whole EOS community is working toward a common goal. Independent teams and community members all have vested interests in the new EOS. Recover+ ads assurance that efforts will be rewarded over the long term.


Sources & References

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