Crypto user loses $30,000 through manipulated hardware wallet

Using glue, double-sided tape and a pre-loaded seed phrase, cybercriminals emptied a hardware portfolio. Here's what investors should look out for when buying.

According to Kaspersky-experts said cybercriminals stole 1.33 Bitcoin from a manipulated hardware wallet. The affected person reportedly made no transactions and the device was not even connected to the computer.

According to a statement from Kaspersky, examining the portfolio found no sign of tampering. However, it was then found that the "two halves of the wallet were filled with glue and held together with double-sided adhesive tape."

In addition, the wallet contained another microcontroller with read protection mechanisms. The attackers also deactivated flash memory, changed the bootloader and removed protection mechanisms, Kaspersky said.

Also, "a randomly generated seed phrase replaced with pre-installed words," it continued. This made it "easy for the attackers to carry out the theft while the hardware wallet, which had been disabled, was in the owner's safe.

It is unclear which device or provider is involved. It remains to be seen whether the attackers can be caught. Despite such attacks, the failures of central crypto custodians have clearly demonstrated: Self-storage in hardware wallets remains the safest method of securing digital assets.

However, investors should only buy portfolios from official and reliable sources. If the device is already damaged, it is worth checking for possible faulty parts.