A teenage security researcher has caused a wild wave of sensation after successfully rooting the allegedly “unhackable” BitFi crypto-wallet. The 15-year-old bedroom hacker was able to install classic Doom on what tech-evangelist and paid promoter John McAfee touted as “unbreakable”. The cryptocurrency wallet was worth $250,000 after BitFi turned it into a bounty program.
However, despite the access, the hacker was not able to extract the Bitcoins in the wallet. Nonetheless, there are still millions of unanswered questions about the hack given that the device is reportedly of a higher modification.
The hacking of the BitFi crypto-wallet alarms crypto-enthusiasts
With the rampant growth and expansion of the Cryptocurrencies industry, the rooting of the BitFi crypto-wallet has raised serious eyebrows. It comes within weeks of several hacks leading into the modification of the device’s boot screen. The move has not only alarmed security professionals but also crypto-enthusiasts after the video of the self-described adversarial shooter surfaced on Twitter.
Apparently, both BitFi and John McAfee claim that the device is the “safest crypto wallet” citing that the Bitcoins are stored in the cloud. However, the video demonstrated how vulnerable it is to install a game on the device. Some of the vulnerabilities include “read and write from storage and RAM”. The vulnerabilities are likely to give access to hackers to install keylogging malware, which is capable of recording and revealing the private key for the wallet.
But McAfee has refuted the claims of the hack
MacAfee has termed the alleged hacks as utter nonsense citing that the hacker did not get the coins. Thus it was a failed attempt. He further explains that this kind of a hack does not qualify for the reward. Nonetheless, however simple it sounds, it is perhaps the beginning of other hackings.
At the same time, BitFi has defended the unhackable nature of the said device describing it as different from the traditional crypto wallets. However, it is surprising how it has distanced itself from McAfee. Meanwhile, Abe Snowman says that the teenage hacker will be sharing the details of the attack as well as the methodology used. It remains unclear what direction the security securities will take.
