El Salvador’s Bitcoin Wallet Faces Devastating Cyberattack

full version at cointribune

In recent days, the bitcoin program of the Salvadoran government has been subject to serious cybercriminal attacks. A few days ago, hackers had leaked the personal data of more than 5 million Salvadorans. The same cybercriminals have now published on CiberInteligenciaSV, an online hacking forum, excerpts of the source code and VPN access of the national bitcoin wallet Chivo. Details.

New Cybercriminal Attack Against Salvadoran Bitcoin Wallet

This is a major blow for El Salvador, which is fighting to be a pioneer in bitcoin adoption. A few days ago, the pirates had already disclosed the personal data of 5.1 million users of the Chivo bitcoin wallet. The personal data of almost the entire adult population of El Salvador had thus been exposed. In the face of the government’s silence, hackers stepped up their game by publishing more sensitive information.

On the morning of April 22, they had warned that they would publish the source code and VPN access of Chivo Wallet if the government did not discuss with them. That same day, VenariX, a cybersecurity project, relayed the information on X to inform the public. Unfortunately, the pirates executed their threat. They published in the CiberInteligenciaSV group the file Codigo.rar comprising a compilation of the source code and VPN credentials of the Chivo Wallet ATM network.

The Salvadoran National Bitcoin Program Compromised

By publishing such sensitive information during this post-halving period, the entire national bitcoin program of El Salvador is under attack. The leaked data indeed allows hackers to take control of user accounts of the wallet without authorization. Thus, the reliability and security of the digital solutions proposed by President Nayib Bukele are called into question.

Actually, the Chivo wallet allows Salvadorans to buy and sell bitcoins. Chivo enables them to hold bitcoins and withdraw them from ATMs. Launched in 2021 to accelerate the adoption of crypto by Salvadorans, the wallet had a very difficult start due to some technical problems. People had to be encouraged with a $30 bonus to open their accounts. Their concerns are now enhanced.

Moreover, in this post-halving period, any attack on a significant bitcoin wallet is a real blow. Oddly, while El Salvador has recently increased its bitcoin reserves, the country’s government has yet to respond. It is to be hoped that the pirates do not play another card.