Hacks on Bitcoin and crypto ETFs? FBI warns of attacks from North Korea

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) yesterday warned employees of companies involved with Bitcoin and Co. that hackers from North Korea are currently attempting to steal Bitcoin and crypto assets. The actors are said to be targeting crypto ETFs in particular.

North Korean malicious cyber actors conducted research on a variety of targets connected to cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the last several months. This research included pre-operational preparations suggesting North Korean actors may attempt malicious cyber activities against companies associated with cryptocurrency ETFs or other cryptocurrency-related financial products.
_{From the FBI's warning}

The FBI warns that sophisticated techniques are being used. Among other things, the cyber criminals are said to use professional social engineering practices to try to infiltrate malware into the service providers in order to gain access to the company network. To do this, they pretend to be trustworthy contacts or submit fake applications.

In the publicly accessible letter, the US authorities disclose the characteristics of such an attack and the necessary precautionary measures - including the secure storage of crypto assets.

Do not store information about cryptocurrency wallets — logins, passwords, wallet IDs, seed phrases, private keys, etc. — on Internet-connected devices.
_{From the FBI's warning}

Even if it can be assumed that the more than 900,000 BTC worth over USD 50 billion held by the US Bitcoin spot ETFs alone are safe enough, the FBI's warning shows that crypto service providers are popular targets.

If the Bitcoin or crypto holdings of an ETF were to go missing one day, this would be a real super-GAU that could permanently shake confidence in the asset class. ETF investors are likely to increasingly turn their backs on the asset as a result.

While the hack of a service provider would not in itself be considered a weakness of Bitcoin, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds are an important factor in the institutional adoption of the fledgling asset class.

Fortunately, Bitcoin allows people to be their own bank. Bitcoin savers no longer have to trust service providers such as asset managers and their security concepts when they hold their coins themselves.

The easiest and most secure way to store Bitcoin yourself, without the private keys to the Bitcoin being connected to the internet, is to use a hardware wallet .