Bitcoin
Roboform Failure Crashes $3 Million Bitcoin Crypto Wallet
A group of researchers uncovered the password to a crypto wallet full of $3 million in Bitcoinhacking an 11-year-old version of the RoboForm password manager program.
In a remarkable turn of events, a team of researchers has stumbled upon a digital treasure chest – a crypto wallet overflowing with a whopping $3 million worth of Bitcoin! Their key? A clever hack from an unexpected source – an outdated version of a password manager program. But how did this treasure hunt unfold?
A cry for help
Two years ago, a European holder of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, who goes by the name “Michael,” contacted hardware hacker Joe Grand to help him hack his Bitcoin wallet containing approximately millions of BTC.
Michael stored his crypto securely in a virtual wallet and had a twenty-character password manufactured by RoboForm and encrypted with TrueCrypt. Unfortunately, the file was damaged and access was lost
At first, Grand declined because he felt his experience in hardware devices had no relevance to a software wallet. Later, however, Michael convinces Grand and his acquaintance Bruno, a hacker, to take on the project.
Breaking the Code
Both researchers downgraded to the version of RoboForm used in 2013 and identified that the PRNG pseudorandom number generator connected passwords with timestamps.
Knowing this, they set the computer’s date and time to a more appropriate date, 2013 to be precise. After several attempts, they successfully generated the correct password.
Rediscovering Fortune
This not only paved the way for solving a technical problem, but also provided monetary gains for Michael. After Bitcoin gained its price, your investment increased (approximately $5,300 in 2013). After recovering, Michael sold some bitcoins for $62,000 and currently owns 30 BTC, which is equivalent to approximately $3 million today.
Crucial lessons learned
Riddled with issues of this kind, RoboForm, developed by Siber Systems, addressed the problem in one of its updates in 2015, but history shows that users who have not updated their passwords can face such an experience.
Joe Grand also emphasized that they had a lot of luck and skill to consider themselves successful.
“We were really fortunate that our parameters and time frame coincided to give us success,”
Michael considers this lucky because losing access to his wallet denied him the chance to sell his Bitcoin very early and it is now worth millions to him.
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