Ledger Confirms How ‘Spy Implants’ Steal Crypto From Its Devices as Cases Spread

MediaMarktSaturn, the German retail group behind the roughly 1,070 MediaMarkt and Saturn electronics stores across Europe, has pulled Ledger’s crypto hardware wallets from its shelves and websites as concerns grow about a supply chain attack on the French wallet maker. At the same time, Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of the infamous and collapsed Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange, says he has now examined a Ledger with an implant that was bought at Singapore’s airport.

Karpelès had been posting about Ledger devices fitted with “spy implants” as far back as last month, weeks before Ledger users’ wallets started getting drained on Friday, and his involvement in the uncovering of the supply chain attack on Ledger has turned into an unlikely redemption story for the formerly disgraced head of Mt. Gox. Ledger still says all confirmed cases involve devices sold through CryptoBilis, a reseller in Southeast Asia, and “the volume of impacted devices is limited.” There have been no public reports of tampered devices bought in the U.S. so far.

New cases reported in Europe and Singapore

A MediaMarktSaturn spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the removal applies to every country where the company operates. “The products have been removed from our product lineup internationally in all of our countries. We did this as a precautionary measure,” the spokesperson said.