A $50m ICO was announced on January 7th by Swarm Technologies, a spin-off from a security firm recently engaged in a blockchain project for America\'s Department of Homeland Security.

While global threats like Spectre and Meltdown grab the headlines, individual users are more vulnerable to smaller, more personalised attacks, like dodgy email scams or malware-carrying attachments, and Swarm believe there is little incentive for security experts to explore these problems.

The ICO opens on February 6th, with monies raised directed at building a blockchain platform to be called PolySwarm. This will be a hub for security researchers to work together as a distributed community to create a safer internet. They are looking to design specialised software that can scan websites, files and documents, seeking out inbuilt vulnerabilities which could, like Spectre or Meltdown, lurk undetected for years.

Although there are any number of virus checkers and anti-malware programs out there, Swarm wants to identify new products that need scanning, and to distribute those scans to a blockchain-based network for analysis and solutions, for which they will earn tokens.

The company believes their proposed smart contract mechanism will help change cryptocurrency\'s role, with tokens being staked by researchers as well as being received as rewards. This mechanism will give researchers an incentive to seek out niche areas for scanning and uncover threats which might otherwise be overlooked.