Ledger Confirms Wallets Safe After Global-E Data Incident

Ledger, a company that makes hardware wallets for digital currencies, recently provided updates regarding the data breach at its third-party e-commerce partner, Global-e. The firm sought to calm users by stressing that the intrusion did not affect its platform, devices, or users’ crypto holdings.

The breach was announced yesterday, January 5, when it was revealed that someone had accessed Global-e’s cloud-based systems. The systems manage order processing for any purchases made on Ledger.com, since the integration started in October 2023. Ledger has highlighted that the breach affected only Global-e, while its own systems remain safe, and so do the crypto wallets.

The company did say that some of the data accessed as part of the incident pertained to customers who made purchases on Ledger.com using Global-e as a Merchant of Record. It also added that it was not the only brand affected, as the unauthorized person managed to access shopper order data from multiple companies.

Details About The Hack

The incident was discovered when Global-e noticed unusual behavior in their cloud infrastructure, quickly stopping it before notifying third-party forensic experts and asking them to investigate. The experts found that some of the material has leaked, including basic personal information, such as names and contact information.

According to Ledger, Global-e did not hold any sensitive personal data, like dates of birth, gender, or government ID numbers. More importantly, attackers did not access financial information, such as credit card or bank account numbers. Things like account information, passwords, or any secrets related to wallets were also unaffected during the breach.

The company stressed that its devices were designed to be self-custodial and that they guarantee that the user will be the one to hold the private key, or 24-word seed phrase needed to manage crypto assets stored within. Global-e does not have access to any individual user’s 24 words, blockchain balance, or any secrets related to digital assets.

Furthermore, Ledger has informed consumers that neither its hardware nor software was hacked, meaning that its crypto wallets remain safe. It is simply another instance of how third-party vulnerabilities can happen in the crypto ecosystem. With that said, the underlying security of self-custody technology is still the best protection against direct fund theft.

It is worth noting that the incident comes after a series of other recent hacks that targeted platforms like Coinbase and Binance, which have led to dumps of consumer data. The data that was exposed in these incidents is the one that is typically used in phishing schemes, so users of affected platforms should remain vigilant and ready for potential contact from scammers.