Hardware wallets are a more secure method of storing cryptocurrency compared to software hot wallets.
They are separate digital devices, and they require a connection to a computer to make transactions or interact with decentralized financial protocols.
“Attackers were able to steal money while the disconnected device was in the owner’s safe.
The victim did not make any transactions with it on the day of the theft, so she did not immediately notice what happened,” the analysts said.
The company analyzed the wallet from which the digital assets were stolen.
“Upon opening the device, we found signs of malicious tampering. Instead of ultrasonic welding, the wallet halves were filled with glue and held together with double-sided tape.
In addition, a different microcontroller with modified firmware and loader was installed instead of the original one,” the company said.
It turns out the victim bought a wallet that was already infected. However, at the time of purchase, the package looked intact and did not arouse suspicion.
Hackers made a total of three changes to the original firmware of the bootloader and the wallet itself.
They made it so that if the owner used an additional password to protect the master key, only its first character was used.
It turns out that in order to find the key to a particular counterfeit wallet, the criminals needed to go through a total of 1,280 options.
Earlier it became known that hackers managed to steal more than $15 million in various cryptocurrencies using a website that mimicked the HitBTC cryptocurrency exchange page.