Least Authority

The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) transition period has ended. For crypto-asset service providers, compliance is no longer about preparing for regulation but about operating within it. That means maintaining appropriate security controls, documenting security practices, managing risk, and demonstrating that those measures remain effective as systems evolve. https://lnkd.in/eaeB5QZx #MiCA #cyryptoregulation #securityconsulting

This podcast explains the problem. We were fortunate enough to help design part of the solution. Darknet Diaries recently released an episode featuring Nick Merrill, founder of Phreeli, a wireless service built to know as little about its users as possible. Nick describes how years of challenging National Security Letters led him to a different conclusion: rather than relying solely on legislation or litigation, build technology that minimizes what providers know about their users. Privacy by design starts with the architecture itself. That philosophy is one we were proud to support through our work with Phreeli, and it's exactly the kind of privacy-preserving project we love working on. It's well worth a listen.

Over the years, the Least Authority team has presented at conferences and community events around the world, sharing insights on security auditing, advanced cryptography, privacy engineering, zero-knowledge systems, and more. Browse our talks and presentations on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eby_cfCw

Our team recently completed a security audit of Argos for Sovright. You can read the full report, including our findings, here: https://lnkd.in/eTZ3uBqT

Helping shape the future of digital asset security. We're pleased to share that Least Authority CEO & Managing Director Liz Steininger has joined the Global Fintech Institute (GFI)'s Digital Assets Security and Compliance subcommittee. As digital assets continue to evolve, collaboration across industry, academia, and policy becomes increasingly important. We look forward to contributing our experience in security auditing, advanced cryptography, and privacy-preserving systems to these discussions.

The newly launched Areta Marketplace for Aptos gives builders a centralized way to request security audits from a curated group of approved providers. We're pleased that Least Authority has been selected as one of the initial security providers on the platform. For teams building cryptography, wallets, smart contracts, zero-knowledge systems, or other security-critical infrastructure on Aptos, we look forward to helping strengthen the ecosystem through independent security reviews. https://lnkd.in/eY2Ng9g5

Building the Stack: Self-Hosted, Mesh & Decentralized Infrastructure in Practice at Neo-cypherpunk Summit. How do we build resilient digital infrastructure — from mesh networks to storage, protocols, and AI compute? Joined by Adam Burns x Dyne.org foundation Bradley Clark Royes x Foresight Institute) Liz Steininger x Least Authority calle x bitchat Moderated by Beth McCarthy Watch https://lnkd.in/d98AViht Event: https://lnkd.in/d2nHpaqc

Not all security testing approaches answer the same questions. Security audits, managed crowdsourced testing, and bug bounty programs each play a valuable role, but they are not interchangeable. Choosing the right approach depends on whether you need systematic analysis, exploratory testing, or ongoing vulnerability discovery. Our recent blog examines where each fits within a mature security strategy. https://lnkd.in/eUdswv8E #securityconsulting #securityaudit #vulnerabilitydiscovery

Balancing accountability with privacy is one of the more challenging problems in system design. Phreeli's whitepaper explores an architecture intended to support continuity and accountability without creating identifiers that can be used to track people across interactions. Our team contributed to the cryptographic design process, helping translate privacy and operational requirements into a practical architecture built around Privacy Pass, commitments, and related techniques. Read the whitepaper here: https://lnkd.in/e6RUmbFn

We recently conducted an AI-assisted security audit of several security-critical repositories in the Zcash ecosystem at the request of Zcash Community Grants (ZCG). This engagement explored how AI-assisted workflows can help scale security reviews while maintaining the rigorous human analysis and verification required for high-confidence findings. The results offer insight into both the opportunities and limitations of applying AI to security auditing. Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/ejeqp5Uh #securityaudit #zcash #securityconsulting