Can crypto users trust the supply chain behind hardware wallets?
Ledger hardware wallet implants have renewed scrutiny of the middlemen handling devices before they reach buyers, even through authorized sellers.
Ordinary cryptocurrency owners cannot realistically be expected to detect sophisticated tampering with hardware wallets, security researcher Joe Grand told Cointelegraph on Tuesday.
Grand specializes in hardware security and has helped recover cryptocurrency from locked wallets. His work includes developing techniques to bypass security protections and extract data from memory chips used in wallets made by Trezor and KeepKey.
“It’s really hard to explain to people how they’re supposed to look at their devices, because even technical people like me are not looking at every single device to see if it’s been tampered with,” Grand said.