El Salvador: Hackers leak code of state Bitcoin wallet

The saga of El Salvador’s state-operated Bitcoin BTCUSD wallet, Chivo, continues to unfold as hackers expose more sensitive information related to the wallet.

The hacker group known as CiberInteligenciaSV released part of the source code on the black hat hacking crime forum BreachForums on April 23.

“This time I bring you the code that is inside the Bitcoin Chivo Wallet ATMs in El Salvador, remember that it is a government wallet, and as you know, we do not sell, we publish everything for free for you,” the hacker group wrote.

The move follows a series of Chivo hack-related events, including the public exposure of personal data of 5.1 million Salvadorans — or almost the entire adult population of the country — which was reported in early April.

Local cybersecurity project VenariX took to X on April 22 to warn the public about the upcoming leak. It referred to CiberInteligenciaSV’s Telegram channel, which posted about plans to release the source code.

“Tonight we will publish part of the source code and VPN access that belongs to Chivo Wallet, for free as always, unless one of you nosy government people wants to talk,” CiberInteligenciaSV’s Telegram post reads.

CiberInteligenciaSV also published the file Codigo.rar, which includes a compilation of code and VPN credentials from the Chivo Wallet ATM network.

In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, with the government promoting Chivo as the official BTC wallet for citizens. The platform allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin, as well as store and withdraw BTC from ATMs.

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The Chivo wallet had a bumpy start, with users subsequently reporting multiple bugs and technical glitches.

Despite reports of a personal data hack on Chivo surfacing in early April, the Salvadoran government has not addressed the issue.

According to industry reports, El Salvador authorities have not released any official statement related to the hack, causing more confusion about the situation.

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