The Reality of Crypto "Wrench Attacks": Why the Trezor Address Leak Is Alarming

When I saw the news that Trezor customer addresses had been leaked, the first thing that came to mind was the "wrench attack."

On August 13, Trezor, a leading hardware wallet provider, announced that customer information had been exposed due to unauthorized access at a shipping partner. The names, email addresses, phone numbers, and shipping addresses of 11,742 individuals were leaked, while the names, cities/municipalities, and email addresses of another 1,947 individuals were also affected. Trezor’s systems, devices, and private keys remained uncompromised.

Even if you protect your private keys with a hardware wallet, there are attacks that cannot be prevented by that measure alone. This includes the "wrench attack,"where the owner of the crypto assets is threatened.into unlocking their wallet or transferring funds. Such incidents have occurred around the world, and Japan is no exception.