The "Dark Skippy" method is a newly discovered technique that allows hackers to steal private keys from Bitcoin hardware wallets using just two signed transactions. This attack exploits vulnerabilities in the firmware of hardware wallets, where compromised firmware can embed portions of a user's seed words into transaction signatures. These signatures, when posted to the blockchain, can be analysed by hackers using Pollard’s Kangaroo Algorithm to reconstruct the full set of seed words, even if the seed words were generated on a separate device.The researchers who uncovered this method, Lloyd Fournier, Nick Farrow, and Robin Linus, emphasise that the attack can be executed efficiently and is difficult to detect. The vulnerability potentially affects all hardware wallet models, but it requires the victim to download malicious firmware for the attack to work.To protect against this threat, it is crucial for hardware wallet manufacturers to implement security measures such as secure boot, locked interfaces, and anti-exfiltration signing protocols. Users should also take precautions by ensuring their devices are secure, using multi-signature setups, and purchasing wallets from reputable sources​.