El Salvador’s Chivo Wallet Breach: Bitcoin ATM Source Code Leaked by Black-Hat Hackers

The post El Salvador’s Chivo Wallet Breach: Bitcoin ATM Source Code Leaked by Black-Hat Hackers appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

A stunning disclosure has surfaced that cyberthieves have acquired portions of Chivo Wallet source code and as a consequence, the Bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador are put at risk. The hacker group staged the incident, CiberInteligenciaSV putting to light the weaknesses of the regime-driven virtual currency calling for critical examinations of data security.

The leak published in a popular black hat-crime forum, Breach Forums has source code snippets of the Chivo wallet and VPN credentials used in buying and selling Bitcoins through ATMs. 

The first move made by the cyberintelligence group, CiberInteligenciaSV was appalling as they shared the information they had garnered from the wallet for free giving reasons that the wallet belonged to the government and therefore presenting dissent against El Salvador’s government.

This event has become just another drawback for the Chivo Wallet which has been receiving different challenges since its launch when it was revealed as the official Bitcoin storing tool. 

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele set Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in El Salvador in 2021 to have a comparative advantage in digital payments but technical issues and security breaches marred the adoption by the locals.

Its official backing notwithstanding, the Chivo Wallet has been subject to consumer criticism, including slow operation, app crashes and its vulnerability to exploitation since its launch.

CiberIndangerSV earlier this month leaked a bunch of personal data on the Chivo Wallets of millions of Salvadorans from a database. The leak is documented in a database that contained 144 GB in.

This information was made publicly available and included personal data of every citizen represented in it such as full name, unique identity number, date of birth, residential address, telephone contacts, email, and a picture. The leakage was a way of exposing the cracks in cryptocurrency integration into traditional financial systems.

The El Salvador authorities have not yet given an official reply to the hack of the Chivo wallet, leaving all questions unanswered regarding the depth of the damage and the measures they will take to ensure data security.

With the cyber risks still lurking around, the hack of the Chivo Wallet is a cautionary example of how big an issue it is to maintain cryptocurrencies, particularly in the world of emerging intricacies.