Cybersecurity concerns surged in El Salvador in April when the same hacker group conducted two significant hacking activities. First, a massive data privacy breach from an unconfirmed source and, second, sensitive information of the government’s Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, Chivo.
The hacker group CiberInteligenciaSV was behind a massive personal data breach on April 6 that affected 5.1 million Salvadorans. More recently, the same hackers leaked Chivo Wallet’s source code and ATM network VPN credentials.
Chivo is a government-backed custodial Bitcoin wallet that has been the center of controversy among peer-to-peer money enthusiasts and the cypherpunk community. The company has commented on the matter, calling it “fake news” in a press release on April 24 on X (formerly Twitter).
Codigo.rar published file by the CiberInteligenciaSV hacker group. Source: Atlas21
Atlas21 mentioned an increased suspicion that the previous privacy breach originated from Chivo Wallet and a notable silence from Bitcoin advocates and experts in the country.
“It is noteworthy the silence of the authorities, especially those linked to the Bitcoin world, who for years have remained silent about the limitations and risks of Chivo. No official statement has been issued, neither regarding the dissemination of personal data of almost the entire adult population of El Salvador, nor regarding the alleged connections with Chivo wallet.”
Furthermore, the case has sparked debate in the cypherpunk community after a Bitcoin podcaster and influencer, Rikki, shared the news.
?BREAKING: Source code and VPN credentials of El Salvador’s Chivo ATM network leaked by hackers.“It is noteworthy the silence of the authorities, especially those linked to the Bitcoin world, who for years have remained silent about the risks of Chivo.”https://t.co/qet20uJGBg
— rikki ?☠️ (@Rikki6ixx) April 23, 2024El Salvador made history on September 7, 2021, by introducing the Bitcoin Law, which made Bitcoin legal tender. As a result, the country attracted investors, enthusiasts, and reporters who later discovered that Salvadorans were struggling to adopt BTC.
Now, recent developments could hurt users’ confidence if Chivo Wallet is proven to be the source of the 5.1 million-person data breach—the company has not commented on that.
