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Keystone to destroy 18,835 hardware wallets after verification key theft
Keystone said an attacker stole a device-authenticity key from its website and that it will destroy 18,835 unsold wallets, The Hacker News reported.
- New headline Was: “Keystone to Destroy 18,835 Hardware Wallets After Hackers Steal Device Verification Key”
- Our desk filed its story
Hardware-wallet maker Keystone said an attacker who accessed its website obtained the cryptographic key its devices use to prove they are genuine, and that it will destroy 18,835 unsold units that still hold that key1.
The Hacker News, citing a Keystone statement dated Oct. 26, said someone with the key could build counterfeit wallets that pass the company's online authenticity check1. Keystone said a buyer who trusted a fake device could lose crypto, but that recovery phrases and wallet private keys were not taken1.
The company said it found the unauthorized access on Oct. 20, blocked the attacker that day, and later fixed a vulnerability in a third-party data-monitoring tool on the site that allowed privilege escalation1. It has not said when the attacker first got in or where the key was stored1.
Devices already manufactured cannot be rewritten to a new key, according to firmware Keystone publishes, so unsold inventory with the old key will be destroyed and new units will ship with a replacement1. Keystone told owners of devices delivered before Oct. 20 that a passing check means they can use the device normally1.
For a device received after that date that still uses the old key, the company said it cannot completely rule out a counterfeit even if authentication succeeds, and told those owners to contact [email protected] and wait for confirmation1. The Hacker News said Keystone's verification page showed no such extra instructions as of Oct. 271.
Keystone first disclosed on Oct. 24 that a third party obtained customer shipping information1. On Oct. 26 it said 25,964 buyer records from website purchases between 2024 and 2026 were affected, including names, contact details, shipping addresses and order details stored on Shopify1. Payment cards, bank details and government ID numbers were not involved, it said, and Amazon and other sales channels were not affected1.
As a precaution it also counted 12,873 unpaid checkout records1. Some shipping data should already have been deleted under a 180-day retention promise; Keystone said a bulk-delete tool failed in some cases1. It is cutting retention to 90 days and asked Shopify to delete older personal data by Nov. 31.
Website orders are paused until new-key devices are ready; the store listed the Keystone 3 Pro as a pre-order expected in four to six weeks, The Hacker News said1. The company said owners do not need to move crypto solely because of the incident, warned against refund or replacement scams, and said it has not reported any counterfeit devices or thefts1.
