How do spy chips and hardware implants enable crypto theft?

Numbers match the citations in the article. A working link isn't proof that a page supports a claim; check the quoted passage and date.

1. 1

   Security Aspects of Cryptocurrency Wallets—A Systematic Literature Review

   ACM Computing Surveys (Houy et al.)Published May 17, 2023Checked Oct 14, 2026

   “These wallets are available in a myriad of different forms and specifications. All of them are susceptible to various ways the attacker can exploit the vulnerabilities and steal money from victims. Cryptocurrency wallets create a unique field as they combine features of password managers, banking applications, and the need to keep their users and their transactions anonymous. We collect the findings from previous literature to provide an overview of the different attack surfaces, possible countermeasures, and further research. Existing literature focused on one of the features mentioned before, while we considered all of them. Our systematic study shows that there is a considerable variety of attack vectors, which we have divided into six subcategories, (i) Memory and Storage, (ii) Operating Systems, (iii) Software Layer, (iv) Network Layer, (v) Blockchain Protocol, and (vi) Others. We have found a large gap between the possible countermeasures and their actual adoption. Therefore, we provide a list of possible directions for future research to tackle this gap.”

2. 2

   Better Keep Cash in Your Boots - Hardware Wallets are the New Single Point of Failure

   Research paper (Dabrowski et al.)Published Nov 13, 2021Checked Oct 14, 2026

   “Hardware wallets are currently considered the most secure way to manage cryptocurrency keys and sign transactions. However, previous publications show that such tokens can be replaced or manipulated in a number of hard-to-detect ways pre- or post-delivery to the user and that implemented (remote) attestation and authenticity checks fail their purpose for multiple reasons.”

3. 3

   Security Vulnerabilities of Cryptocurrency Wallets -A Systematic Review

   FUOYE Journal of Engineering and Technology (Kirobo)Published Feb 26, 2025Checked Oct 14, 2026

   “It hinders most users and government from adopting crypto-market. There are several security issues reported by the study such as scams, hacks, and theft in digital coins particularly cryptocurrency. This study has deployed literature review techniques to bring awareness on the frequently used vulnerabilities and to suggest the way to mitigate and prevent such vulnerabilities. Numerous methodologies suggested by prior-literatures has been used to mitigate, detect, and prevent any security threats towards crypto-wallet. The study has found that the cryptocurrency wallet is subjected to several attacks which are born by the general internet protocols loopholes, those attacks born by the presence of security vulnerabilities awareness, and those attacks resulted from the nature of blockchain systems. Several users have been victimized by the scammers, hackers, and fake investment schemes due to lack of knowledge base concerning security vulnerabilities. This study recommends the usage of several security policies to combat those vulnerabilities which include usage of Insurance policies, Security scans policies, and deployment of AI systems to mitigate any security vulnerabilities.”

4. 4

   Interpol review of digital evidence 2016 - 2019.

   Forensic science international. Synergy (Reedy)Published Mar 19, 2020Checked Oct 14, 2026

   “This review paper covers the forensic-relevant literature in digital evidence from 2016 to 2019 as a part of the 19th Interpol International Forensic Science Managers Symposium. The review papers are also available at the Interpol website at: https://www.interpol.int/content/download/14458/file/Interpol Review Papers 2019.pdf.”