Ledger confirms hardware wallet spy implant behind crypto thefts
Ledger said the implant can capture 24-word recovery phrases, and the company has not confirmed how many wallets were affected or whether losses were tied to the device.
- On October 9, Ledger began investigating reports of stolen funds linked to Southeast Asian reseller CryptoBilis, confirming that unauthorized hardware implants captured user recovery phrases and transmitted them over cellular networks.
- Monitoring the device screen during setup, the unauthorized components operate independently inside the wallet's casing and transmit recovery phrases via an embedded SIM and LTE connection without modifying the Secure Element.
- Independent onchain researchers estimate suspected thefts ranging from $93.2 million to $103.4 million across multiple blockchains, though Ledger has not confirmed total losses or the number of affected customers.
- Researcher Mark Karpelès reported Friday that similar spy implants surfaced in Ledger devices sold by two additional authorized resellers, suggesting the hardware may be designed for mass production rather than isolated tampering.
- Security firm SlowMist warned on October 16 of phishing campaigns posing as firmware updates exploiting the incident, while Ledger urges users to avoid initializing suspicious devices and migrate assets to new signers with fresh recovery phrases.
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Components have been added to steal passwords from an unknown number of Ledger Nano X wallets, marketed by a reseller in Southeast Asia.
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