Waltio Crypto Tax Platform Data Breach Prompts Investigation by French Officials
Approximately 50,000 cryptocurrency investors, with a significant portion residing in France, may have experienced a compromise of their personal information on Waltio, a digital currency tax reporting platform, as a result of a recent cybersecurity incident.
French law enforcement and cybersecurity officials have launched a preliminary inquiry into a security breach affecting Waltio, a cryptocurrency taxation platform, that potentially exposed the personal information of its user base.
A Thursday announcement from French cybersecurity officials revealed that both the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office and the nation's National Cyber Unit have begun examining the characteristics of the compromised data and the identities of affected Waltio platform users. The announcement cautioned that individuals impacted by this security incident might become targets of scammers attempting to gain access to their cryptocurrency holdings by masquerading as legitimate security personnel raising genuine safety concerns.
Based on a Friday publication from Le Parisien, a cybercriminal organization known as the Shiny Hunters delivered a ransom demand to Waltio in the wake of the cyberattack. The criminal group successfully acquired personal information belonging to approximately 50,000 users of the Waltio platform, with the vast majority of these individuals located in France.
Numerous criminals have conducted targeted attacks against cryptocurrency holders worldwide in physical confrontations after acquiring personal information about their digital asset holdings, full names and residential addresses. The announcement issued a warning that such cryptocurrency holders in France might fall victim to "kidnappings and unlawful detentions," or could have family members and close relatives placed in dangerous situations as a means to extort their cryptocurrency assets from them.
The practice of targeting cryptocurrency holders or their family members has earned the informal designation of a "wrench attack," a scenario in which criminals kidnap or take hostage an individual, occasionally employing physical violence to compel them to transfer control of their digital currency holdings. Several users in France have fallen prey to such criminal tactics, and comparable incidents have been documented across multiple nations worldwide.
French financial regulators oversee MiCA transition period
French regulatory authorities have reportedly delivered warnings to cryptocurrency businesses that have not achieved compliance with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) regulatory framework. This regulatory framework, which was approved by European Union policymakers, provides companies with a transition period that concludes on June 30 to submit notification regarding whether they intend to pursue a MiCA license or cease their operations within the country.