In a remarkable tale of perseverance and ingenuity, two hackers, Grand and Bruno, reportedly cracked the forgotten password of a digital wallet, enabling the recovery of a treasure trove of Bitcoin (BTC).
The saga began in 2013 when a cryptocurrency owner, “Michael” stored his Bitcoin holdings in a password-protected digital wallet. However, a corrupted encrypted file left Michael unable to access the wallet and its contents, which included 43.6 BTC, worth $5,300 at the time.
Specialists initially informed Michael that retrieving his crypto assets was only possible with the password. However, Grand and Bruno, digital wallet hackers, took on the challenge.
Reverse-engineering the version of the RoboForm password program Michael used, they discovered that the tool’s supposedly random passwords were tied to the computer’s date and time. Armed with this insight and details of Michael’s password parameters, they embarked on the painstaking task of cracking the code.
Despite the challenges, including Michael’s uncertain recollection of the password’s creation date, Grand and Bruno persisted. Finally, in November, they succeeded in uncovering the correct password: lacking special characters and generated on May 15, 2013, at 4:10:40 PM GMT.
Michael’s patience paid off handsomely. With Bitcoin valued at $38,000 upon wallet access, he waited until prices soared to $62,000 before selling some assets. Today, he holds 30 BTC, valued at over $2 million.
Reflecting on their success, Grand remarked on the importance of accurate parameters and timing, emphasizing that any deviation could have significantly prolonged the process. This extraordinary feat underscores the potential for creative solutions in cryptocurrency and digital security.
