Criminal Group Spent Millions to Compromise Ledger Hardware Wallets, Company Says

Following customer reports of lost funds and compromised devices, Ledger released a statement describing the incident as one of the most "sophisticated attacks" the digital asset sector has seen.

On Thursday, the hardware maker stated that a "highly organized criminal group" purchased Ledger devices, inserted implants capable of reading users' seedphrases, and then returned them to the supply chain through resellers.

Last week, Ledger, which is headquartered in Paris, announced it had launched an investigation after customers in Southeast Asia reported fund losses following purchases from Malaysian reseller CryptoBilis.

The firm later said it verified that one affected user's device contained an unauthorized hardware implant.

The total amount stolen from the compromised devices remains unclear, though blockchain analyst Specter has stated that $86 million was drained. Ledger did not reply to written queries from Bitcoin Magazine.

In its Thursday statement, Ledger said: "[The criminal group] built their own logistics and technology infrastructure with seeds collector servers, draining and laundering infrastructures. They were patient, they spent millions, and they struck in one coordinated operation, draining wallets."

"There was no flaw in Ledger’s chip, operating system or servers. Ledger’s systems were not compromised. This was an attack on the distribution channel after the devices left our control."

Ledger called this its "largest investigation to date" and dispatched employees to other regions, including Europe, to verify that other supply chains had not been compromised.

According to the company, screened devices showed no issues, and authorized resellers and distributors in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong have halted sales.

Ledger also said it is cooperating with law enforcement to "follow the funds and dismantle the attackers’ infrastructure."

Ledger's statement did not clarify how many customers were affected.

The crypto sector continues to recover from a July incident where hackers stole nearly $120 million in bitcoin from Coldcard users.

This year has also seen multiple data breaches, with scammers targeting Ledger to obtain customer data through its payment processor Global-e.