VeChain Strengthens Blockchain Security with Socket's Real-Time Dependency Scanning

Waqar AhmedSecurity Lead, VeChain

About VeChain#

VeChain is a leading blockchain platform that drives digital transformation across supply chain management, finance, and sustainability initiatives. Trusted by enterprises worldwide, VeChain’s solutions are built on secure, scalable technology.

The Challenge#

Prior to Socket, VeChain relied primarily on GitHub's native Dependabot for dependency management. While functional, this approach had significant limitations:

"We were more leveraging what GitHub gives us by default, which was Dependabot. It was okay, but it was more reactive. Somebody would commit code which has a vulnerability in it, but we wouldn't know until Dependabot would run on the schedule and then let us know. As a blockchain and web3 company, that's not something we were very comfortable with," explains Waqar Ahmed, Security Lead at VeChain.

The team needed a solution that would provide immediate visibility into potential security issues, especially for their open source products that are publicly accessible.

Socket scans all dependencies at the pull request level, providing human-readable, actionable alerts directly within the development workflow. Developers can instantly see critical issues without sifting through logs or deciphering complex messages.

"As a blockchain and security-focused company, visibility into our dependencies is critical. We needed real-time insights, especially at the pull request stage," Ahmed said.

"Other tools required parsing logs to understand the problem. Socket puts the insights right where we need them, in a format that’s easy to act on."

Socket's Real-Time Dependency Scanning Puts VeChain Ahead of Emerging Threats#

After evaluating various security tools, VeChain chose Socket for its proactive approach to dependency management and superior user experience. Socket's integration into their development workflow was seamless, requiring minimal training for the development team. Developers were able to begin using it immediately.

"Socket is one of the easiest tools to work with from a developers' point of view," Ahmed said. "Developers who hadn’t been trained on the tool could still understand and act on the insights provided."

Key factors that influenced VeChain's decision included:

• Real-time PR scanning that catches issues before they enter the codebase
• Human-readable alerts that clearly highlight security concerns
• Predictable pricing model based on team size
• Fast scanning performance compared to alternatives

Results: Improved Security with Reduced Noise#

Prior to adopting Socket, the VeChain team grappled with alert fatigue. Many tools flooded developers with non-actionable alerts, eroding trust in the tools themselves and complicating workflows. VeChain needed a solution that would surface actionable insights without drowning the team in noise.

Waqar AhmedSecurity Lead, VeChain

Socket has significantly enhanced VeChain's security operations while maintaining developer productivity. The tool's ability to provide actionable alerts has built trust among the development team.

"When Socket raises an alert, developers know there's a good chance that there is actually a problem here," notes Waqar. "The alert fatigue you experience with other tools is not there."

The security team has established a proactive approach to managing security risks: "I've got a Slack channel set up for high critical alerts," VeChain Security Analyst Alan Sower said. "If something critical comes in, we push for it to be remediated as quickly as possible."

The team particularly appreciates Socket's rapid response to emerging threats: "The Socket team is really quick to respond to threats and campaigns and actually publish blogs to increase awareness," Sower said. "And obviously the determinations on the back end reflect the research that the team is doing."

Making Security Issues Immediately Visible#

Socket’s straightforward pricing model made it easy for VeChain to forecast costs. The exceptional support team was another major advantage.

"The level of detail and responsiveness from Socket’s support team is unmatched," Sower said.

Socket's clear presentation of security issues has been particularly valuable for VeChain. While other tools might provide similar information, Socket's approach to surfacing issues sets it apart:

"With Socket, it's just on your PR, it's very human readable, and it's like those big red signs. You instantly catch that there is an issue," Ahmed said. "Other tools might have similar information, but they were not visible enough, not confident enough to show you at the PR level."

This visibility has helped VeChain maintain high security standards across their blockchain and web3 projects while keeping their development process efficient and streamlined. As VeChain continues to innovate in the blockchain space, where security is paramount, Socket has proven to be an essential tool for mitigating emerging threats while boosting developer productivity.