Unciphered, a startup specializing in cryptocurrency recovery, claims to have discovered a method to unlock an encrypted hard drive with $235 million in bitcoin, which has been inaccessible for 12 years. However, the owner of the drive isn’t interested in their solution. Wired reported that the Seattle-based firm, after eight months of intensive research, successfully unlocked the military grade IronKey USB drive.
Unciphered Offer To Bitcoin Owner
Using this achievement as a proof of concept, Unciphered is now prepared to unlock another drive, stored in a Swiss vault, containing 7,002 bitcoin.This drive is owned by Stefan Thomas, a Swiss crypto entrepreneur. In 2011, Thomas was rewarded with Bitcoin for producing a video titled ‘What is Bitcoin?’.
Sadly, he misplaced the paper containing the password shortly after. With the IronKey‘s design, after 10 incorrect password attempts, the drive’s contents become permanently inaccessible. Thomas has already used eight of these attempts. Unciphered contacted Thomas, offering to unlock his drive using their new technique. However, Thomas declined, sharing with Wired that he’s been collaborating with another team for the past year, and they’re entitled to a portion of the bitcoin once recovered.
He stated he can’t engage with a new party but hinted that Unciphered might be considered by the existing teams. In an attempt to persuade Thomas, Unciphered intends to release an open letter and a video. Nick Federoff, Unciphered’s operations head, commented, “We cracked the IronKey. Convincing Stefan is proving more challenging.”
Cracking The Crypto Pandora Box
IronKey USB are military grade drives, renowned for their robust security, featuring a self-destruction mechanism after 10 unsuccessful password attempts. To bypass this, Unciphered invested heavily in equipment and even sought expertise from engineers familiar with parts used in the drive’s construction from the 1990s. Their efforts eventually allowed them to bypass the 10-attempt restriction, granting them unlimited password attempts.
Unciphered remains cautious about revealing their findings, fearing the opening of a crypto Pandora Box, potential misuse and the risk of older IronKey drives being targeted by malicious actors. The firm’s operations director emphasized the broader implications beyond just cryptocurrency. Regardless of the outcome with Thomas’s drive, Unciphered is committed to assisting others in recovering their inaccessible cryptocurrency.
