Hackers and hackers periodically develop their methods and tools to pounce on any opportunity that comes before them to enable them to exploit and steal users’ digital currencies.

We have already mentioned in Previous article on Arab Bitcoin To target hackers to the Electrum wallet.

It was later reported in August and September that Electrum wallet users had lost large amounts of bitcoin by hackers exploiting a vulnerability in an older version of the wallet.

A new investigation has revealed in detail the process behind the exploit and the extent of harm to users so far.

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According to a report prepared by the site ZDNetMore than $25 million worth of bitcoin has been stolen in a recent assessment of the proceeds from the exploitation.

1,980 bitcoins, or about $22.9 million, were stolen from wallets linked to the attackers.

This is in addition to 202 bitcoins ($2.3 million) stolen in previous attacks.

According to the report, the largest amount stolen occurred in late August, with a bitcoin holder stating that he lost 1,400 bitcoins by exploiting a vulnerability in an old version of the wallet.

The next day a post appeared by another user who also lost 36.5 bitcoins due to the same vulnerability.

Notably, the attackers have been using the same exploit in the same way since 2018, according to victim reports.

How to Exploit and Steal Bitcoins from Electrum Wallets:

The targeting method is done by sending the hackers a notification that suggests to the user that there is a new update for the wallet.

Whereas, Electrum wallets use private servers to communicate with the Bitcoin blockchain, and the wallet’s system is open source, meaning that malicious parties and caches can exploit any possible vulnerability, including running hacker servers and waiting for users to connect.

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From here, hackers can launch a notification telling users that the app must be updated to send or receive transactions, but the update process directs them to malware rather than a real, legitimate update.

Once the software is updated, the hacked Electrum wallet requests a one-time passcode, and once the user provides it, the bitcoin in the wallet will be withdrawn to the hackers’ addresses.

Newer versions of the Electrum wallet have implemented a set of measures to close such a vulnerability including blocking some server pop-up messages and also blacklisting servers, but older versions of the wallet are more vulnerable to attackers as evidenced by these published reports.

Thomas Vogtlin previously told that he and the development team were aware of phishing scams and had warned users more than once. to source By saying:

The warning has been displayed on our website for 18 months.

The user was deceived for using outdated software that is vulnerable to phishing.

There is an ongoing investigation into these cases by police in Germany and the United Kingdom.

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“I cannot make any comments about the progress of the investigation, but it would be useful for victims to report this independently,” he added.

In conclusion, we offer, from our side in Arab Bitcoin, tips related to saving Bitcoin, and we summarize them as follows:

• Since the Electrum wallet suffers from security holes in its previous versions, it is better to stay away from it and use other wallets.
• Do not download portfolios and their applications except from the official website.
• Do not provide your password or private key to anyone.
• Make sure to store large amounts of bitcoin or other altcoins in cold wallets such as hardware wallets.

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