Vitalik: Cybersecurity Will Eventually Shift Toward a Defensive Advantage, but the Transition Will Be Very Difficult

Odaily reports: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted on X platform, stating that he did not predict, nor will he predict, that cybersecurity defense capabilities will automatically outpace attack capabilities. Although he expects cybersecurity will eventually form a situation where defenders hold the advantage, the transition process to achieve this goal will be very difficult.

Vitalik pointed out that defenders discovering vulnerabilities in released software earlier than attackers does not mean defense naturally holds the advantage. Truly establishing a defensive advantage requires deeper methodological shifts, including formal verification, proactive minimization of the trusted computing base (TCB), and other measures, while such work is still in its early stages.

He emphasized that this is also one of the important reasons why he continues to support slowing or pausing the development of related technologies, and believes that more than 1% of GDP should be invested in cybersecurity, biosecurity, and physical world security protection.