Crypto▼ Bearish
North Korean Hacker Got MetaMask Code Access, Consensys Says
A North Korean operative accessed MetaMask's core code for a month before Consensys terminated him. The firm says no funds were stolen, but the breach raises questions about vendor screening.
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Consensys, the blockchain firm behind the MetaMask crypto wallet, said it accidentally brought a North Korea-linked software developer onto its team. The developer worked on core wallet code for about a month before the company terminated access, internal Slack messages showed.
Consensys general counsel Matt Corva said the company discovered the threat quickly after the developer was hired. The firm followed its security protocols and cut off access immediately. A subsequent investigation found no misappropriation of assets or data, no malicious code pushed into production, and no impact on user safety, Corva said.
The developer worked under the alias “Tyler Knapp” and used the GitHub handle “imyugioh.” He was hired as a consultant through a third-party service provider with a long-standing relationship with Consensys. The company said the developer was not hired directly through its internal hiring pipeline, and the third-party agency may have been responsible for the breakdown in proper screening.
Internal Slack messages reviewed by the source show that Tyler Knapp worked on the core MetaMask platform code. He had access to the codebase that converts crypto to fiat currency via third-party payment providers and vice versa. He also contributed to MetaMask’s mobile wallet codebase on GitHub. Those contributions began on March 9 and stopped abruptly in April, the same month Consensys cut off his access.