3 - 5 minute read
The team behind Atomic Wallet, the non-custodial mobile crypto wallet, is currently cooperating with police in Estonia, where the company is registered, after suffering a hack on June 3. The CEO, Konstantin Gladych, confirmed that the team has also received a request from police in Kazakhstan and has forwarded the request to the Estonian police and blockchain analytics companies Crystal Blockchain and Elliptic. These companies will be using the data provided by Atomic Wallet to investigate and prevent suspicious transactions. Atomic Wallet users lost over $100 million worth of crypto in bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), tether (USDT), dogecoin (DOGE), litecoin (LTC), BNB, and polygon (MATIC) in the first weekend of June. According to blockchain intelligence firm Elliptic, over 5,500 wallets were compromised in the hack.
It is still unclear what made the breach possible as Atomic Wallet has not shared the details of its technical investigation yet. Atomic Wallet is a non-custodial mobile wallet that allows users to keep the private keys for their crypto on their own devices, without trusting a custodian. However, CEO of a blockchain security firm Hacken Dyma Budorin believes that the wallet might have flaws in its technical design that allowed hackers to access users’ crypto. The wallet might have been sending copies of users’ private keys to the company’s server, or the hackers might have derived private keys from Atomic users’ transaction data or breached the wallet manufacturer’s infrastructure.
Last year, the security firm Least Authority warned about security flaws in Atomic’s code in a now-deleted blog post. The firm found issues in Atomic’s use of cryptography, a lack of robust project documentation, and incorrect use of Electron, a framework for building desktop applications. Atomic also did not adhere to the best practices for wallet design.
The hack on Atomic Wallet highlights the importance of cybersecurity in the crypto industry. As the industry grows, the risk of hacks and cyber attacks also increases. It is essential for companies to ensure the security of their platform and users’ assets. Traders and investors should also prioritize security when choosing a wallet or exchange for their crypto assets.
According to Gladych, Atomic Wallet is working on improving its security measures and will be implementing a bug bounty program. This program will incentivize security researchers to find and report vulnerabilities in the wallet’s code.
The Bottom Line
The hack on Atomic Wallet emphasizes the need for increased security measures in the crypto industry. Traders and investors should prioritize security when choosing a wallet or exchange for their crypto assets. Atomic Wallet is currently cooperating with police and blockchain analytics companies to investigate the hack and improve its security measures. The implementation of a bug bounty program will also incentivize security researchers to identify and report vulnerabilities in the wallet’s code.
