The NTS Recovery Phrase Breach: A Lesson in Information Security #Colecolen
Among the digital asset losses in South Korea, the incident at the National Tax Service (NTS) is considered the most unbelievable. Accidentally exposing a recovery phrase in a public report led to the immediate disappearance of 4 million PRTG tokens (approximately $4.8 million).
In cryptography, the recovery phrase is the "master key." Anyone with these 12 or 24 words has total control over the assets without needing a password. A leading state agency committing such a basic error reflects a severe lack of blockchain infrastructure knowledge. It shows that digital assets cannot be managed like traditional documents. All wallet-related information must be encrypted and stored in isolation (cold storage) rather than appearing on standard administrative papers. This is a wake-up call for the necessity of involving tech experts in the government’s management of digital evidence and assets. $BTC
