Crypto Hardware Wallet Data Breaches Expose Owners to Physical Attacks and Theft

Data breaches at two shipping companies have put cryptocurrency owners with physical hardware wallets at greater risk of having their funds stolen, highlighting weaknesses in the broader tech ecosystem relied on by the crypto industry. The breaches have exposed thousands of customers to the threat of physical attacks, as criminals increasingly target high-net-worth individuals through home invasions, kidnapping, and other violent methods.

In recent weeks, makers of hardware crypto wallets Trezor and SafePal reported that collectively thousands of their customers had their personal data and shipping information stolen during separate data breaches at their shipping partners. The crypto wallet makers provided their customers' names, home addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers to the shipping companies for mailing out their hardware wallets.

The Nature of the Breaches

The hacks did not affect the security of the wallets themselves a hardware device that stays offline to make it far more difficult for hackers to compromise it over the internet. Instead, the hackers targeted the broader supply chain of tech companies to obtain personal information about where high-net-worth crypto holders live.