The users of the IOTA Foundation must download the wallet and change the password to secure their tokens. The Foundation will take the necessary measures to ensure the return of the stolen funds to those affected.
The IOTA Foundation is a nonprofit organization located in Germany, which is responsible for the development of distributed accounting technology (DLT), or blockchain, and promoting its adoption. One of the main objectives of the Foundation is to increase the adoption of the protocol to make it a global standard.
It was recently reported that the Foundation is preparing to resume its activities, after having disconnected the network as a result of the hacking of the Trinity wallet. The updated version of the wallet was launched on Monday, February 17th, although the network is still suspended. The users will have to follow a three-step plan to secure their tokens against the threat of new attacks.
On Wednesday, February 12th, the IOTA Foundation confirmed that the word seed of several Trinity wallets had been compromised. A group of more than 10 customers was robbed and a total of 300,000 MIOTA were stolen from their addresses, which are equivalent to around USD 1.2 million. Although the board has not provided details of the source of the glitch, it recently confirmed that the hackers began attacking the platform on January 25th.
It should be noted that, due to the severity of the vulnerability, the board decided to disconnect the “coordinator” node from the network that validates the transactions. For this reason, the IOTA blockchain is now inactive until further notice. However, the community is already receiving the first guidelines that will allow it to remedy the harm caused and return to normal operation.
According to details of the latest IOTA Foundation statement, the Trinity wallet has been updated, noting that it now has a “new secure customer”. The users must install this new version of the wallet to check their balance and most recent transactions. They are also urged to change their password and store it in a password manager to reinforce the security of the tokens that they own.
It was also stated that the Foundation will launch a tool to migrate seeds. In this way, the users can transfer their tokens to a secure address before the network becomes operational again. Although it is only known that computer wallets were compromised, the organizers believe that all users should migrate their seeds for added security. The idea of this procedure is to avoid maintaining any vulnerability that can then be exploited again by hackers.
Concerning the victims, IOTA developers note that all users who have lost tokens will be able to claim their money back. There is a small number of those affected and any other complaint is being traced along with police investigation, as indicated in the statement. To compensate the community, IOTA promised to take measures to return each stolen token, which will eventually be discussed by all network users.
By Alexander Salazar
