The crypto industry has long been plagued by hacking incidents and exploits. However, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is now making this threat even more severe. Charles Guillemet, Ledger's Chief Technology Officer, believes that the economics of cybersecurity are deteriorating as AI tools make it faster and cheaper to launch attacks on systems. "Identifying vulnerabilities and exploiting them has become extremely easy," Guillemet stated in an interview.
"The cost is essentially zero." His comments come amid a surge in crypto heists, including the recent $285 million exploit of Solana-based Drift and the $25 million attack on yield protocol Resolv. Over the past year, crypto attacks have resulted in the theft or loss of over $1.4 billion in assets, according to DefiLlama data. The traditional security approach relies on an imbalance, where hacking a system is more difficult and expensive than the potential reward.
Nevertheless, AI is eroding this advantage, enabling tasks that once required skilled researchers months to complete, such as reverse engineering software or chaining exploits, to be accomplished in seconds with the right prompts. For crypto, where code often controls large pools of funds, this shift significantly raises the stakes.
Guillemet warned development teams, "You need to be perfect." The problem is further complicated by AI-generated code, which can spread vulnerabilities more quickly as more developers rely on AI tools. "There is no 'make it secure' button," he said. "We will produce a lot of code that is insecure by design." To address this issue, crypto protocols must rethink security from the ground up.
Guillemet suggested formal verification, which involves using mathematical proofs to validate code, as a more robust approach than traditional audits. He also emphasized the importance of hardware-based security, such as devices that isolate private keys from internet-connected systems, reducing exposure. "When you have a dedicated device not exposed to the internet, it is more secure by design," he said. As malware becomes more advanced, this approach is becoming increasingly relevant.
Guillemet described attacks that scan compromised phones for wallet seed phrases, allowing hackers to drain funds without user interaction. For average crypto users, Guillemet's message is clear: assume that systems can and will fail. "You can't trust most of the systems you use," Guillemet said. This could lead more users to adopt cold storage, strengthen operational security, and keep sensitive data offline.
However, even with these precautions, risks extend beyond software, including physical attacks targeting crypto holders. Guillemet anticipates a divide in the future, where critical systems like wallets and protocols will invest heavily in security and adapt, while much of the broader software ecosystem may struggle to keep up. "It's really easier to hack everything," he said.