Government agencies in the United States and the United Kingdom have issued an advisory report urging users to be cautious of new malware being used to target their crypto wallets and exchanges. According to the report, the malicious software is said to leak data from crypto exchange applications such as Binance, Coinbase, and Trust Wallet.
Software Associated with Sandworm
The National Security Agency (NSA), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of the United Kingdom’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) collaborated to release a joint report on the malware known as “Infamous Chisel.”
According to the report, the malware is associated with Sandworm, a cyber warfare unit operating under Russia’s military intelligence agency GRU. The joint report also states that Sandworm targeted the Android devices of the Ukrainian army and used the newly acquired malware to gather information from compromised mobile devices.
The report highlights that the data extracted by the malware includes information from the directories of Binance, Coinbase, and Trust Wallet applications. It is noted that the leaked data is not limited to specific file types within the listed directories.
The Primary Risk: Hack Attacks
The joint report also reveals that the components of Infamous Chisel were developed without much emphasis on concealing malicious activities. The malware was found to lack sophisticated techniques to hide its operations, possibly due to the absence of host-based detection systems for Android devices.
Meanwhile, in 2023, crypto investors lost nearly $1 billion due to exploits, hacks, and scams. Blockchain security firm CertiK reported on September 1st that approximately $997 million has been lost since the beginning of the year. In August alone, these attacks resulted in losses of around $45 million. Despite the amount, the losses were significantly lower compared to the previous month, where over $486 million in digital assets were lost due to malicious attacks in July.
