Ledger has confirmed that some of its hardware crypto wallets were tampered with before reaching customers, using a hidden hardware implant that captured seed phrases and transmitted them to attackers via an eSIM. Ledger traced the compromised devices to a Malaysian reseller, CryptoBilis, and has asked it to halt all sales and shipments while it investigates, saying its own systems and infrastructure appear uncompromised.
futurism.com
· 2026-10-16
MediaMarkt Saturn removed Ledger hardware wallets from its European stores and website on October 13 after a German customer discovered an unauthorized implant inside a device, with no funds lost in that case. Ledger confirmed the retailer pulled the affected products and said the two firms remain in contact. The incident follows an earlier Ledger disclosure on October 10 that devices sold by reseller CryptoBilis in Southeast Asia contained a similar hidden component.
techreport.com
· 2026-10-16
Ledger has directed resellers and distributors in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong to stop selling its hardware wallets and pull them from shelves while it investigates implanted chips found in devices sold by reseller CryptoBilis. The company's Donjon security team found a hidden microcontroller that reads recovery phrases and transmits them over LTE via an embedded eSIM, bypassing Ledger's normal integrity checks. Similar tampered units have also been reported from other sellers in Asia and Europe, including a Singapore airport retailer and MediaMarkt in Europe, which has already removed the product.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-10-14
Security researchers at Tibane Labs found counterfeit or tampered Ledger Nano X hardware wallets fitted with an extra chip that reads the device's screen output via electromagnetic leakage, plus a hidden LTE modem, eSIM and antenna powered by the wallet's own battery. This setup lets attackers capture a user's seed phrase as it's displayed and transmit it over mobile networks, despite the wallet's Secure Element chip remaining untouched. Ledger has acknowledged at least one customer suffered losses from a manipulated device, with total losses across victims estimated near $100 million.
heise.de
· 2026-10-13
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