Forget the PIN: How Your Stolen Phone Can Empty Your Crypto Wallet
Hey! Imagine this: you lost your phone or it got stolen. You think, "Scary, but not critical. I have a PIN, Face ID, and I didn’t save my MetaMask seed phrase anywhere." It seems like your accounts are safe.
Well, not quite. Researchers from Ledger have just proven that physical access to your Android smartphone = access to all your hot wallets on it. This isn’t about hacking software—it’s a direct hardware-level attack on the phone’s processor itself.
What did they do?
They took a popular MediaTek chip (found in many mid-range smartphones) and used electromagnetic pulses to "break" it at the most fundamental level—during boot-up. It’s like not picking the lock but remotely reprogramming it to open on command.
The technical gist (in short):
A special device directs electromagnetic pulses into the chip.This triggers a glitch in the most protected part—the boot ROM.Using this glitch, attackers can gain full control over the processor (the highest privilege level, EL3).That’s it. After that, they can easily extract private keys from any installed wallet (Trust Wallet, MetaMask, etc.).
The whole process takes a few minutes, and the success rate, according to their data, is up to 1%. For an attacker who has your device, that’s more than enough.
Why does this matter for you and me?
Phones get stolen and lost. This isn’t some mythical internet threat—it’s an everyday reality.Hot wallets on phones are at risk. Ledger clearly states that their hardware wallets (and similar devices) are unaffected because they have a secure chip designed specifically to counter such attacks.The chipmaker (MediaTek) essentially confirmed: this chip was made for mass-market consumers, not for storing critically important data. Financial operations require specialized protection.
The key takeaway from the researchers:
A modern smartphone is a convenient "wallet" for daily spending, but not a "safe" for long-term holdings.
Keeping significant amounts in hot wallets on your phone after this study is a huge risk.
Question for you: How do you distribute your assets between hot and hardware wallets after news like this? Do you trust your smartphone to store significant sums?
#Android #Web3 #crypto
Well, not quite. Researchers from Ledger have just proven that physical access to your Android smartphone = access to all your hot wallets on it. This isn’t about hacking software—it’s a direct hardware-level attack on the phone’s processor itself.
What did they do?
They took a popular MediaTek chip (found in many mid-range smartphones) and used electromagnetic pulses to "break" it at the most fundamental level—during boot-up. It’s like not picking the lock but remotely reprogramming it to open on command.
The technical gist (in short):
A special device directs electromagnetic pulses into the chip.This triggers a glitch in the most protected part—the boot ROM.Using this glitch, attackers can gain full control over the processor (the highest privilege level, EL3).That’s it. After that, they can easily extract private keys from any installed wallet (Trust Wallet, MetaMask, etc.).
The whole process takes a few minutes, and the success rate, according to their data, is up to 1%. For an attacker who has your device, that’s more than enough.
Why does this matter for you and me?
Phones get stolen and lost. This isn’t some mythical internet threat—it’s an everyday reality.Hot wallets on phones are at risk. Ledger clearly states that their hardware wallets (and similar devices) are unaffected because they have a secure chip designed specifically to counter such attacks.The chipmaker (MediaTek) essentially confirmed: this chip was made for mass-market consumers, not for storing critically important data. Financial operations require specialized protection.
The key takeaway from the researchers:
A modern smartphone is a convenient "wallet" for daily spending, but not a "safe" for long-term holdings.
Keeping significant amounts in hot wallets on your phone after this study is a huge risk.
Question for you: How do you distribute your assets between hot and hardware wallets after news like this? Do you trust your smartphone to store significant sums?
#Android #Web3 #crypto
Disclaimer: Includes third-party opinions. No financial advice. May include sponsored content. See T&Cs.
