IRS hires company to hack cryptocurrency wallets

By popularizing the use of hardware wallets to store large amounts of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the IRS decided to invest in improving the techniques for obtaining funds from such devices.

Contract opportunity, available at Organization for award management, A government website that lists and records contracts between government and private companies, the only company that has shown potential for such work is VTO, Inc.

The agreement between the company and the government will start on September 30 and will last for two years.

The rationale for such a move is that even though wallets are usually seized, the process of encrypting them is challenging. More forensic research is needed to obtain satisfactory results.

VTO ​​explores a single device type or specific model and shows how to compromise the integrity of wallet security and capture their content.

As this procedure continues to be used, VTO will work to explore different portfolios to identify trends in research techniques and any variables that are consistent across different devices.

Security of hardware portfolios

Hardware wallets, or hardware wallets in English, are known for their security because transactions are signed into the wallet and thus work in a secure environment.

The goal of the U.S. government is to look for exploits, that is, deficiencies in the security of these devices, with many manufacturers already working with reward schemes for those who find financially vulnerable bugs.

It is noteworthy that while the government only works with one company, manufacturers are always ready to be tested by all individuals and companies who wish to participate in such a program.

Additionally, manufacturers may release new firmware / software versions that can be repaired, depending on the shortcomings identified by governments.

Be your own bank

If the money learned by the government is in a bank, it will be confiscated in a few minutes. The use of cryptocurrencies only allows the citizen to access their own money, or at least it gives some jobs to the government.

The U.S. government detects flaws in hardware portfolios and allows others to seize money, but this is another cat and mouse breed: can fix flaws and / or move funds.

In addition to hardware wallets, there are other options for securing your funds Brain wallets And other techniques that allow you to create and store your seed (12 passwords) offline and off electronic devices.