Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 29
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hot'Lanta... home of the Falcons!

    The $220 mil password

    From the NYTimes



    Worth noting that the guy has a bunch of other crypto that has made him fabulously wealthy, so it ain't like the rest of us sitting on a $220 mil hard drive.
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  2. #2
    That is a terrible, terrible, wonderful story.

  3. #3
    Look at the bright side. In ten to twenty years, computing power will
    have advanced to break the encryption. The wallet may be worth billions (or zero.) It’s like an IRA.

  4. #4
    And this is why my password for software that I very rarely had to use at work was 0hsh1t! - as in oh sh*t I have to do this today and I can't remember my password. Another person's password for it was 0hDamn! - as in I forgot my password.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    On the Road to Nowhere
    Tell him to try "password". Works great for me!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Rent free in tarheels’ heads
    Talking about a living hell.
    “Coach said no 3s.” - Zion on The Block

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Kdogg View Post
    Look at the bright side. In ten to twenty years, computing power will
    have advanced to break the encryption.
    I'm not sure that matters if there are still a very limited number of attempts left, like two.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Outside Philly
    Quote Originally Posted by dudog84 View Post
    Tell him to try "password". Works great for me!
    That, or QWERTY. Does he have a dog? These are some dynamite suggestions.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Rent free in tarheels’ heads
    Seriously though. Wouldn’t you write it down and lock it up somewhere? Maybe a safe deposit box. Sheesh.
    “Coach said no 3s.” - Zion on The Block

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington DC
    I wonder if he could sell it to someone else - what is the value of 2 guesses for $220m?

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by mkirsh View Post
    I wonder if he could sell it to someone else - what is the value of 2 guesses for $220m?
    That's a really interesting idea. Auction it off - see what crypto-tech geniuses might be able to pony up for a try (with or without others' backing).
    From what little I understand, though, if the original paper or any other copy of the password cannot be found, you just can't get in, unless you can backdoor the entire crypto-coin system, which probably would destroy its value (if it became known).

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by mkirsh View Post
    I wonder if he could sell it to someone else - what is the value of 2 guesses for $220m?
    A former Facebook security executive offered to form a team to hack into it for 10%. I would take the offer.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by mkirsh View Post
    I wonder if he could sell it to someone else - what is the value of 2 guesses for $220m?
    About $2 each. $3 with the Power Play. That’s what it costs to play tonight’s Power Ball drawing for $550 million, $411 million cash option!
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
    9F 9F 9F
    https://ecogreen.greentechaffiliate.com

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Kdogg View Post
    A former Facebook security executive offered to form a team to hack into it for 10%. I would take the offer.
    I can see how that might be attractive if your cost was only 10%. But if I had just 2 guesses left, I'd want strong reason to believe (POC) that the person making the offer is going to succeed. I'm sure many people would line up to make a guess for 10%. Even many who work in security. Your remaining tries are a limited resource, one that should be allocated very carefully.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington DC
    Quote Originally Posted by cspan37421 View Post
    I can see how that might be attractive if your cost was only 10%. But if I had just 2 guesses left, I'd want strong reason to believe (POC) that the person making the offer is going to succeed. I'm sure many people would line up to make a guess for 10%. Even many who work in security. Your remaining tries are a limited resource, one that should be allocated very carefully.
    I don’t think you can just let people try for a share - that keeps all the risk but limits the upside so you would never do it. My thought was to transfer the risk - if someone thinks they can crack it, would you sell the drive for some amount? Right now the owner has a binary outcome - either it’s worth $0 or $220m. The expected value is something greater than $0 but the owner can’t access it. But someone might want to pay $1m or $5m or whatever they think the expected value to the owner is for it if they think they can crack it, so it introduces a new monetization option for the current holder.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by mkirsh View Post
    I don’t think you can just let people try for a share - that keeps all the risk but limits the upside so you would never do it. My thought was to transfer the risk - if someone thinks they can crack it, would you sell the drive for some amount? Right now the owner has a binary outcome - either it’s worth $0 or $220m. The expected value is something greater than $0 but the owner can’t access it. But someone might want to pay $1m or $5m or whatever they think the expected value to the owner is for it if they think they can crack it, so it introduces a new monetization option for the current holder.
    Just imagine a "sanitation engineer" who came across the piece of paper in the garbage.

    The first thing I would try if I were the wallet holder would be to move to a new house. You know how often you find stuff when you pack up or unpack for a move?

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by cspan37421 View Post
    I can see how that might be attractive if your cost was only 10%. But if I had just 2 guesses left, I'd want strong reason to believe (POC) that the person making the offer is going to succeed. I'm sure many people would line up to make a guess for 10%. Even many who work in security. Your remaining tries are a limited resource, one that should be allocated very carefully.
    The Facebook guy wasn't trying to figure out the password. His team would try to find a flaw or bug in the hardware. He was planning to buy ten of the same devices and figure out how to break into it.

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Quote Originally Posted by mkirsh View Post
    I don’t think you can just let people try for a share - that keeps all the risk but limits the upside so you would never do it. My thought was to transfer the risk - if someone thinks they can crack it, would you sell the drive for some amount? Right now the owner has a binary outcome - either it’s worth $0 or $220m. The expected value is something greater than $0 but the owner can’t access it. But someone might want to pay $1m or $5m or whatever they think the expected value to the owner is for it if they think they can crack it, so it introduces a new monetization option for the current holder.
    This is reminiscent of "Deal of No Deal." You are down to two suitcases. One of them has $750K in it and the other has 5 cents. The "banker" than makes you an offer. There is an algorithm that mathematically produces the offer.

    I think this is a good idea. And the owner would be wise to take the offer, which would probably be in the neighborhood of, say, $50 million or so, maybe even slightly higher. Contestants on Deal or No Deal almost always reject the offer and go away with a nickel, or a buck, or whatever. People are generally pretty irrational when it comes to assessing probabilities.
    "We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Raleigh, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    This is reminiscent of "Deal of No Deal." You are down to two suitcases. One of them has $750K in it and the other has 5 cents. The "banker" than makes you an offer. There is an algorithm that mathematically produces the offer.

    I think this is a good idea. And the owner would be wise to take the offer, which would probably be in the neighborhood of, say, $50 million or so, maybe even slightly higher. Contestants on Deal or No Deal almost always reject the offer and go away with a nickel, or a buck, or whatever. People are generally pretty irrational when it comes to assessing probabilities.
    I think you would have a hard time finding any takers at $50 million. I'm not even sure you could get a 7 figure offer for an encrypted drive with no password and only 2 guesses remaining.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Acymetric View Post
    I think you would have a hard time finding any takers at $50 million. I'm not even sure you could get a 7 figure offer for an encrypted drive with no password and only 2 guesses remaining.
    Plus, this guy is pretty wealthy from what I have read. He wouldn’t give it away for a few million I would assume. I vote for the guy just to hold onto it. Everything is hackable eventually.

Similar Threads

  1. Password Change for DBR?
    By left_hook_lacey in forum Off Topic
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 12-24-2019, 12:06 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •