Hacker leaks source code for El Salvador Chivo ATMs

A hacker has published the source code, including .exe, .txt, .bat, and .reg files, for the software used within El Salvador’s government-maintained Chivo bitcoin ATMs. President Nayib Bukele’s administration paid third-party contractors from various countries to build and maintain its infrastructure.

Chivo has ties to Athena Bitcoin Global, a pink sheet stock that trades on the US OTC stock market. Athena rallied from $0.20 to $46.50 during Bukele’s Chivo announcements in 2021, however, today it trades for less than $0.10.

Other third-party contractors include ROI Developers (a.k.a. Accruvia) which sued Athena over an alleged failure to pay. Athena eventually stopped working on Chivo, and AlphaPoint, which has ties to various failed crypto exchanges, took over.

Read more: Bitcoin ATM startup sues former exec over botched El Salvador launch

Long history of Chivo wallet and ATM hacker leaks

It’s not the first, second, or even third time that El Salvador’s Chivo and ID systems have experienced a major breach. During Chivo’s debut in 2021, many Salvadorans stole other residents’ credentials to open multiple accounts and claim multiple $30 signup bonuses.

Earlier this month, a hacker published over 5 million high-resolution face photos of nearly every adult in El Salvador, including detailed contact information. 

A major newspaper in El Salvador also reported this month that the same hacking group, CiberInteligenciaSV, has been releasing a series of data dumps on Salvadorans for weeks. Recent breaches include 800,000 license plates and associated vehicle/owner info, 96,000 pregnancy records, 6,500 government customer records, and other catastrophic breaches.

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