Kaspersky has scrutinized the details of a hardware wallet theft that resulted in the loss of 1.33 BTC worth $29,585.
The growing adoption and use case of cryptocurrencies also brings bad actors to the scene. In the crypto industry, scams are unstoppable. Kaspersky has revealed a new research, especially these days when hardware wallets are much discussed.
Kaspersky investigated hardware wallet theft where a hardware wallet lost 1.33 BTC.
Kaspersky Investigated Details of Theft
Kaspersky investigated the details of the hardware wallet theft of 1.33 BTC. Kaspersky investigated a rare case where assets were stolen from a hardware wallet. This situation reveals that crypto scammers are starting to resort to high-level methods.
In the said fraud case, the hardware wallet owner did not transact with the hardware wallet on the day of the incident. The scammers seized 1.33 BTC of the wallet owner.
In the hardware wallet where the shocking theft took place, the inside of the device was filled with glue and the hardware components were held with double-sided tape. This structure was different from the original hardware wallets. In addition, the wallet had a different microcontroller with read protection mechanisms instead of the original one, and the flash memory was completely disabled.
Examining the structure of the hardware wallet, Kaspersky revealed that the user had previously purchased and used an infected hardware wallet. In the infected and vulnerable wallet, the attackers made three different changes to the firmware. As a result of the changes, the control mechanism was eliminated. The attackers replaced the randomly generated seed phrase in the hardware wallet with one of 20 preset phrases. Thus, the thieves, who had the possibility of 1280 combinations, were able to seize the assets of the crypto owner.
On the surface, the crypto wallet seemed to be working smoothly, but the fraudsters had full authority in this wallet. The hardware wallet owner moved his wallet unaware that his 1.33 BTC would be stolen.
Stanislav Golovanov, Kaspersky Cyber Case Investigator, said:
Hardware wallets have long been considered one of the safest ways to store cryptocurrencies. But cybercriminals have found new ways to seize their assets by selling infected or counterfeit devices to unsuspecting victims. It is possible to completely prevent such attacks. We strongly advise users to purchase hardware wallets only from official and reliable sources to minimize risk.
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