Hackers managed to break into a Bitcoin wallet with $3m - owner lost access for 10 years

Two hackers were able to regain access to a Bitcoin wallet. The owner, known by the pseudonym Michael, lost access to it in 2013.

Here's What We Know

A European man created a Bitcoin wallet in 2013 and generated a password using RoboForm. However, he did not save the password as he feared hacking. He then encrypted it using TrueCrypt, but the file was corrupted.

Due to the lack of a backup, Michael lost access to his Bitcoin wallet for a decade. Last year, he turned to white hacker Joe Grand, who agreed to help on his second attempt.

Grand and his friend exploited a vulnerability in an old version of RoboForm, which Siber Systems only closed in 2015. The password to the wallet was tied to the date and time it was created. The hackers analysed the parameters of other passwords and wallet logs. After several attempts, they managed to find a password that was generated on 15 May 2013.

Michael had 43.6 BTC on the wallet, i.e. approximately $3 million. After regaining access, he sold some of the coins to compensate the hackers. He now has 30 BTC but wants to sell them once the value of BTC increases to $100,000.

Source: Forbes