The publication of an official press release resulted in the loss of millions of dollars due to one careless photograph.
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According to Korean media reports, South Korea’s National Tax Service triggered a major data leak while publishing a report on the confiscation of assets from tax evaders.
The document included a photograph of a Ledger hardware wallet with a sheet of paper placed beside it. The image clearly revealed an unprotected seed phrase used to restore access to the seized funds.
Blockchain researchers quickly identified an Ethereum address linked to the compromised seed phrase.
By analyzing on-chain data, experts recorded three incoming transactions totaling 4 million PRTG tokens from the Pre-Retogeum project. Shortly after the report was released, unknown attackers transferred the entire balance in a single transaction to an external wallet. Local outlets Naver and Chosun confirmed that these actions совпided with the timing of the agency’s photo publication.
Jaewoo Cho, Associate Professor at the Blockchain Research Center of Hansung University, conducted a detailed analysis of the capital movement. He confirmed the loss of assets equivalent to $4.8 M directly through the seed phrase that appeared online.
Cho said the real damage was limited due to the low liquidity of the stolen tokens. The lack of market demand makes it difficult for hackers to cash out their loot. The other seed phrases visible in the photo do not pose a security risk.
The specialist expects this incident will push South Korean government agencies to develop full-scale systems for storing virtual assets.
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