Michael said he stored 43.6 BTC in a digital wallet with a password generated using the RoboForm password manager. The user saved the access code in a file encrypted using the TrueCrypt tool, choosing not to keep it in RoboForm for security reasons.
Over time, it turned out that the file was damaged, and Michael lost access to the cryptocurrency. Hoping to get his bitcoins back, in 2022 the man contacted white hat hacker Joe Grand, who had previously helped people regain access to lost crypto assets. Grand turned to a friend named Bruno to help him hack the RoboForm software. For months, hackers spent several months reverse engineering an attempt to restore the version of RoboForm that Michael used in 2013.
Hacker researchers discovered that the random number generator used to generate passwords in the 2013 version had a flaw. The random passwords that were created were tied to the date and time on the user’s computer, making them predictable. That is, if you know the date, time and some other parameters, you can guess the password generated on a certain date and time in the past. However, Michael did not remember the exact date and time he created his password.
Hackers found that the user transferred bitcoins to his wallet on April 13, 2013. By matching specific timing parameters, the white hat attackers checked many passwords until they found the one created by Michael on May 15, 2013.
As a reward, Grand and Bruno kept part of the bitcoins, which at that time were trading at a rate of $38,000 per coin. Michael waited until the rate of the first cryptocurrency rose to $62,000, then sold some BTC. He now has 30 bitcoins worth a total of $3 million.
Another Bitcoin investor, Englishman James Howells, was not so lucky and is still unsuccessfully trying to find a randomly discarded computer hard drive with data about the wallet where 7,500 BTC (about $509 million) are stored.
