A startup claims it can crack a USB stick containing 7,002 Bitcoins

According to Wired , Unciphered engineers have developed a technique to crack the IronKey S200 password that they claim will unlock a wallet containing 7,002 Bitcoins.

The Kingston IronKey S200 is a USB drive that combines hardware and software security, and is programmed to erase all of its contents after 10 failed password attempts. But Unciphered engineers have developed a secret IronKey password cracking technique that allows them to try virtually indefinitely.

To test this claim, Wired ’s editor sent an IronKey S200 to Unciphered with a three-word password. The team returned the results the next morning, describing the process of testing it billions of times using a high-performance computer.

But at the heart of Unciphered is a specific IronKey USB drive containing 7,002 Bitcoins worth around $235 million, currently stored in a Swiss bank. The device belongs to Stefan Thomas, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur who forgot his password and has just two attempts left before his assets are permanently erased.

Kingston IronKey S200 is a portable drive with strong data security capabilities.

According to Wired , Thomas didn’t seem to want help, though. Unciphered reached out to Thomas, assuring him of the company’s ability to crack the IronKey. Thomas declined, saying he had already been negotiating with two other hacking teams for a year. He also pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds to both teams if either team could crack the code.

The Unciphered situation is a bit odd, as the company holds the most valuable cryptographic key in the world, but doesn’t have the key to unlock it. Thomas said he was already working with another team of experts on the recovery process, so there was no time to negotiate with a new person. It’s also possible that the current team could decide to subcontract Unciphered if they feel that’s the best option.

In previous interviews, Thomas said his 7,002 Bitcoins were leftover from a payment he received for making a video titled “What is Bitcoin?” published on YouTube in early 2011, when a Bitcoin was worth less than $1. In late 2011, Thomas said he accidentally deleted two backups of his wallet containing thousands of cryptocurrency coins and lost the piece of paper containing the password to decrypt the third copy — stored on his IronKey. At the time, his lost coins were worth nearly $140,000.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-startup-tuyen-bo-co-the-be-khoa-chiec-usb-chua-7002-bitcoin-18523102513462755.htm