Karpelès plans low-cost detector for tampered Ledger wallets
The former Mt. Gox CEO says the device would scan hardware wallets for unauthorized components using low-power radio signals, without opening them.
Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, announced on X a plan to develop a low-cost detector that checks a Ledger hardware wallet for unauthorized electronic components without opening the device, according to U-Today.
The detector would use low-power radio signals and resonance testing to look for unauthorized antenna components inside the wallet, Karpelès said.
He added that he intends to keep the build cost low and may publish PCB designs and specifications so that users can build the device themselves.
No working detector has been released, and no independent performance verification has been carried out.
Earlier tampering case
The plan follows a tampering incident in which Ledger wallets distributed through resellers in Southeast Asia were found to contain a component designed to collect the 24-word recovery phrase during wallet initialization. The component used the wallet's internal eSIM to connect to an LTE network and send collected data to attackers, and independent researchers estimated cryptocurrency losses from the incident at over $90 million.
On October 15, Ledger said its security chip, operating system and servers were not hacked and that the cause was hardware tampering in the distribution process. The company said it would tighten rules for authorized resellers, ban resale of returned products and keep products off open display shelves before purchase.
Quick answers
Has the detector been released?
No. Karpelès described it as a plan, and no working device has been released or independently verified.
How would the detector find tampering?
According to Karpelès, it would use low-power radio signals and resonance testing to look for unauthorized antenna components without opening the wallet.