Atomic Wallet’s hack statement raises user concerns amid $100m losses
Decentralized wallet provider Atomic Wallet has left its users seeking further clarification despite releasing a comprehensive event statement. A significant exploit in June is estimated to sum up to $100 million in losses.
In a blog post on June 20, Atomic Wallet provided its first major update since the June 3 exploit, claiming that no new confirmed cases have emerged following the initial reports of the hack.
The company reiterated its previous assertion that less than 0.1% of app users were affected, which has been met with skepticism and criticism from many online.
Atomic Wallet did not disclose the exact cause of the exploit, presenting four probable causes, including a virus on user devices, an infrastructure breach, a man-in-the-middle attack, or malware code injection.
The wallet provider further stated that none of these scenarios had been confirmed as the potential cause of the massive breach. However, Atomic Wallet did mention that its security infrastructure has been updated.
The company also revealed that it is working on an app update to enhance security, which external auditors have verified.
However, questions have arisen regarding the identity of these “external auditors” and whether users can access their statements.
Critics have also highlighted the wide range of possibilities proposed by Atomic Wallet, suggesting that the company has yet to comprehensively understand how the exploit occurred.
Recent allegations from MistTrack have claimed that North Korean hackers utilized Atomic Wallet to launder stolen funds using various smart contracts, employing a money laundering method similar to the Harmony cross-chain bridge hacking incident.
According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the losses from the Atomic Wallet hack have now surpassed $100 million, underscoring the severity of the incident that affected approximately 5,500 cryptocurrency wallets.
