The famous hacker conference Def Con is being held once again these days in Las Vegas, Nevada. It started on June 27, and will last until June 30. This year’s program includes a variety of hacking exhibits and presentations, but one particular subject which is a real attention-grabber, is a presentation of Def Con demonstrators who claim to be able to break a Bitcoin hardware wallet, and will share it with the audience.
For those who are new to this story, Def Con is a one of the biggest hacker conventions which is held every year in Nevada, USA, since 1993. This event includes a range of guide, demonstrations, and speakers who come from the world of computer security, tech journalism, hacking, and government cyber-world. This year’s conference offers the stories of breaking Android and Apple tech, the growth of DDoS attacks, Opsec techniques, drone defense markets, and many more.
Breaking Bitcoin Hardware Wallets
The demonstration that seems the most appealing this year is called “Breaking Bitcoin Hardware Wallets“. This 20-minute presentation will be done by Chris Quartier and Josh Datko of the company Crytpotronix who will present their methods and tools that can break a Bitcoin wallet. People from Cryptotronix claim that, during this presentation, they will overview fault injection techniques, timing, and power analysis methods by using the Open Source Hardware tool, called the Chip Whisperer.
They will try to show how to apply these techniques to the STM32F205 which is the MCU on the Trezor and Keepkey. And finally, they will share their findings of a timing attack vulnerability and recommend hardware and software to improve bitcoin wallets. You can also read more about Bitcoin hardware wallets in our previous article.
