Hacker Breaks BitKeep Crypto Wallet During Christmas Holiday, IDR 124.8 Billion Disappears

JAKARTA – While the public is still enjoying the holiday season, hackers are actually working hard. In fact, they managed to break into around 8 million US dollars (IDR 124.8 billion) while exploiting the BitKeep wallet recently.

On December 26, several users of the multichain crypto wallet BitKeep reported that their funds were being drained and transferred while they were not using their wallets. In their official Telegram group, the BitKeep team confirmed that some downloaded APK packages have been hijacked by some attackers and have been installed with code embedded by the hackers.

“If your funds are stolen, the app you downloaded or updated may be an unofficial release version that is pirated,” said BitKeep, as quoted by Cointelegraph.

As the hack continues, the BitKeep team is urging its users to transfer their funds to wallets originating from official sources such as Google Play and Apple App Store. In addition, the team also asked community members to use the newly generated wallet addresses as their previous addresses may have been “leaked to hackers”.

To assist with the investigation, the BitKeep team is asking affected users to submit relevant material via a Google form they have provided.

One suspected hacker wallet address already has digital assets of more than 5 million US dollars (IDR 78 billion). While the amount exploited is still not final and the attacker is currently still transferring funds to multiple wallet addresses. Blockchain security and analytics firm PeckShield highlighted that over $8 million in Tether was stolen so far.

On October 17, the BitKeep wallet was also exploited when attackers took USD 1 million worth of BNB (IDR 15.6 billion). Exploitation is carried out through services that enable token exchange. The wallet company suspended service and promised to replace all affected users.