4 ms·

This reminds me of the Joe Grand video titled: “ I hacked time to recover $3 million from a Bitcoin software wallet” Just put a program in the computer that g

This reminds me of the Joe Grand video titled: “ I hacked time to recover $3 million from a Bitcoin software wallet” Just put a program in the computer that generates a ‘random’ key based on time of day and second…and it does this every day at pre defined hours…and maybe some way that the time and date can’t be modified. Then, only when that day and time comes will the right key be generated and the files decrypted. Program does not know when that date is it just bases the key generation on time and date.

TomatoCo 2y ago
You're talking about a secure hardware element to ensure that the algorithm can't be exfiltrated and the dates brute forced against it. If you have a secure element that knows what time it really is, so you can't lie to it, just have it withhold the key until the specified date.
- slicktux 2y ago
  Yes, and no, assuming secure hardware element is not possible. An encrypted log file can be made that keeps track of time. If a leap is detected than the program will shred the data. The user can be warned of this and decide not to risk brute force.
  - bastawhiz 2y ago
    Without secure hardware, what stops me from keeping a backup and restoring it every time the data is "shredded"? If you have no hardware element there's nothing that can stop me from, say, spinning up 10000 VMs to make 10000 simultaneous attempts.
Someone 2y ago
If the NSA knew how useful the info was, they would build a thousand clones to run the program on, connect them to clocks running zero, on, two, three, etc. years fast, and after a year know everything they’re supposed to know after 1000 years, after two years everything they’re supposed to know after 2000 years, etc. If you’re a time traveler, you could likely get a secure enclave built a zillion years in the future and tested for a further zillion years. That likely would avoid the cloning, but still wouldn’t prevent the NSA from gambling that what you’ll tell them twenty years from now is more useful than what you’ll tell them tomorrow (hoping that they’ll be able to fill in intermediate steps if needed. For example, if I told somebody from the 1930s how to sequence DNA, they probably could infer what DNA looks like and that DNA is something worthy of attention. If you’re a time traveler, the simple solution is to just send them the info on the date you want them to know it, though.

TomatoCo 2y ago

You're talking about a secure hardware element to ensure that the algorithm can't be exfiltrated and the dates brute forced against it. If you have a secure element that knows what time it really is, so you can't lie to it, just have it withhold the key until the specified date.

slicktux 2y ago
Yes, and no, assuming secure hardware element is not possible. An encrypted log file can be made that keeps track of time. If a leap is detected than the program will shred the data. The user can be warned of this and decide not to risk brute force.
- bastawhiz 2y ago
  Without secure hardware, what stops me from keeping a backup and restoring it every time the data is "shredded"? If you have no hardware element there's nothing that can stop me from, say, spinning up 10000 VMs to make 10000 simultaneous attempts.

Someone 2y ago

If the NSA knew how useful the info was, they would build a thousand clones to run the program on, connect them to clocks running zero, on, two, three, etc. years fast, and after a year know everything they’re supposed to know after 1000 years, after two years everything they’re supposed to know after 2000 years, etc. If you’re a time traveler, you could likely get a secure enclave built a zillion years in the future and tested for a further zillion years. That likely would avoid the cloning, but still wouldn’t prevent the NSA from gambling that what you’ll tell them twenty years from now is more useful than what you’ll tell them tomorrow (hoping that they’ll be able to fill in intermediate steps if needed. For example, if I told somebody from the 1930s how to sequence DNA, they probably could infer what DNA looks like and that DNA is something worthy of attention. If you’re a time traveler, the simple solution is to just send them the info on the date you want them to know it, though.