6 ms·

More detail on how they managed to get access to that password/private key? Edit: I found the bitcoin address https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/bc1q7eqww9

• bredren 5y ago
  If it was not hacked then I believe the implication is that the key was cracked. Presumably, via brute force capability of unknown nature or a weakness in Bitcoin not known at this time.
  • ccczzz 5y ago
    as far as I know the chances of doing this are far less possible than sending your 'tradicional forces' to get the private key..
  • tome 5y ago
    > If it was not hacked then I believe the implication is that the key was cracked. Is anyone here willing to say they believe the key was cracked? Seems extremely implausible to me.
    • bredren 5y ago
      I’m open to alternatives, though I have felt that the response to this involved the highest level cyber warfare capabilities of the United States. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27156073 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27156073 I would not be surprised to find out the US has this capability.
      • tome 5y ago
        I would be surprised if they would reveal themselves as having it for $2.3 million.
        • bredren 5y ago
          See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27437342 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27437342
    • paulpauper 5y ago
      It can be cracked if the keypair generator process is faulty. Some wallets have been known to be vulnerable due to poor rng implementation
    • lamontcg 5y ago
      Always easier to socially engineer in one way or another than to crack keys.
  • bdcravens 5y ago
    More likely typical law enforcement methods than technical: they seized equipment with key, accessed an account where the key was transmitted (like email or a phone), wire-tapped an insecure channel, or strong-armed a defendant into revealing it. ie, a $5 wrench
  • Shacklz 5y ago
    I think this is more a case of "What actually happend": https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
  • dehrmann 5y ago
    As others have pointed out in another post, you don't reveal that you've broken an important cryptographic algorithm over $2M.
    • bredren 5y ago
      This was not about $2M. It was a response to what was publicly interpreted as a nation-state cyber attack on infrastructure. This was about principle and demonstration of capability. If it is true the US has the ability to calculate BTC wallet keys as fast as it did, the price should fall.
      • dehrmann 5y ago
        > This was about principle and demonstration of capability. Still not worth it if a crpyto function has been broken. If it was because of the encrypted chat app honeypot they ran, it might be different, but even then, only if criminals are moving to something else. They also don't have the perpetrator.
        • bredren 5y ago
          I disagree. If the US has the ability to quickly break a BTC wallet, it is a public demonstration of warfare that should act as a deterrent in other theaters of war. > They also don't have the perpetrator. I don’t think we have a full manifest of who was involved in the colonial attack or the personnel that have made up Darkside. Even if we did, successful pressure on the perpetrators or their successors does not require holding the individuals directly.
• teachingassist 5y ago
  I'd wager it was passed as a message in the ANOM app. I don't think it's coincidence that these were news-worthy on the same day.
  • lamontcg 5y ago
    Or the ANOM app is being leaked now to throw the blame off the honeypot tumbler they're still running.
• dehrmann 5y ago
  I saw this in the news today. No idea if it's what happened, but it sounds like law enforcement runs infrastructure used by organized crime. https://www.engadget.com/fbi-encrypted-chat-app-anom-criminals-102001487.html https://www.engadget.com/fbi-encrypted-chat-app-anom-crimina... And this is on HN: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/11/20/165590860/episode-418-how-the-government-set-up-a-fake-bank-to-launder-drug-money https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/11/20/165590860/epis...
  • baby 5y ago
    https://twitter.com/adam3us/status/1402179970277982210?s=21 https://twitter.com/adam3us/status/1402179970277982210?s=21 More on Krebs: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/darkside-ransomware-gang-quits-after-servers-bitcoin-stash-seized/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/darkside-ransomware-gang...
• walexander 5y ago
  The most plausible theory I've heard is that the attackers used a BTC tumbler that was a honeypot controlled by feds. But who knows, maybe the FBI has a quantum computer we don't know about.
  • answertojob 5y ago
    they don't :(
  • Taek 5y ago
    Seems unlikely that the FBI sitting on a way to break ECDSA would use it to recover $2 million. Much more likely that there was a tumbler or exchange that they were able to link to the attacker and use to seize funds. Maybe they even have backdoors in some popular crypto wallets.
    • mmaunder 5y ago
      Might cost more than $2MM in compute, but could be worth it to demonstrate capability.
  • lordnacho 5y ago
    Sounds plausible, that one. Also perhaps the ransom gang had a staging server with a bunch of keys somewhere. But the tumbler idea actually seems more plausible to me.
• paulpauper 5y ago
  Guessing that it is malware or wallet vulnerability . I don't think it was server being siezed
• thinkmassive 5y ago
  Some educated guesses from ErgoBTC in this thread: https://twitter.com/ErgoBTC/status/1402277984212557836 https://twitter.com/ErgoBTC/status/1402277984212557836
• jzchang 5y ago
  Apparently through the FBI docs... Ransom was paid to darkside Darkside tries to launder money on blockchain Through blockchain explorer, the BTC ends up on Coinbase in attempt to liquidate. Coinbase has keys, and hands them over to FBI.
  • tome 5y ago
    Ah, it's very interesting if they were seized after having been transferred to a different wallet. That is going to reduce trust in Bitcoin considerably. It will be difficult to be sure that the coins you just bought are not subject to seizure by the authorities.
    • baby 5y ago
      It’s well-known that money transfers are public in bitcoin and on/off ramp via virtual asset service providers like coinbase requires kyc and is subject to aml/ctf (anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing)
      • tome 5y ago
        Yes, for the dollars coming in and out. It's news to me that the same applies to the bitcoin coming in and out!
        • jtbayly 5y ago
          Why wouldn't it? It's a case of holding stolen goods. You don't get to keep them.
          • tome 5y ago
            No reason, I just didn't realise this was something the authorities did in practice.