4 ms·

Ask HN: Help, suddenly forgot password encrypting 15 years of personal data

2 points by supersecure 13y ago

Regular here using a throwaway, looking for help recovering information that must be in my brain somewhere. My data's encrypted with FileVault 2 w/ a password of 10-12 random characters -- the same for about 4 years now, during which I effortlessly typed it many times per day. Had you asked me what it was though, I couldn't have said; I'd had to have been sitting in front of a keyboard to type it. Three nights ago I logged in as usual, then nodded off. I woke up ~30 mins later and tried to type it again...but couldn't! I was surprised, but figured it would come back to me in the morning. Several days now and nothing. This is incredibly frustrating for me as a geek who has lived most of his life electronically -- these 15 years represent a huge volume of my life product: passwords to online accounts, thoughts and computer programs I've written, illustrations, mathematical models, recorded conversations... So much of my world is locked away in there. I know brute forcing holds no hope, nor is my recovery key stored with Apple. I have backups that are encrypted with the same password, because I was protecting from fire/theft/drive failure, not this. So I'm not looking for computer advice, but rather help on recovering information from my brain that I know must still be in there, somewhere. FWIW, I've experienced no other neurological symptoms nor any forgetfulness besides this. That night, I even checked myself for the typical signs of a stroke and noticed none. I remember pieces of it, and some of what it "felt" like to type. As I've tried different possibilities, some have felt more right than others. But it's impossible to tell whether I'm really getting closer or merely tricking myself with the newly established familiarity that my repeated attempts are creating. Has anyone had a similar experience or advice on how to jog my memory?

ppjim 13y ago
You can try this. I hope this help you. http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Something-That-You-Forgot http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Something-That-You-Forgot http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-a-Forgotten-Password http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-a-Forgotten-Password
migrantgeek 13y ago
I'm sorry, I have no advice to give however I can relate. I've forgotten passphrases to a lot of things. I once locked myself out of a set of backups I needed which meant a great deal to me. Photos that can never be restored, writings, etc. After that event I kicked myself hard for a while for not testing my backups on a regular basis which would have reminded me that my backups were encrypted and I should've maybe written down the phrase somewhere safe. Time passed and I got over it but the lesson learned changed. Testing backups is still important but I started questioning why I was encrypting my backups at all. Was I really worried someone would find some old pictures and things I wrote a decade ago? Not really. It would be unlikely for someone to break into my home and then my safe and take my hard drive with backup data on it. Even if that happened, I don't think my first thought would have been "oh no, that thief can see my old photos now". Being honest with myself, I realized I was encrypting because it was cool and techie to do so. I guess what I'm saying is that encryption is a damn powerful tool. So powerful that it could even reject the owner at some point. I still use encryption but now I make choices about what I encrypt. Would I prefer greater accessibility or security? For most things, accessibility wins out so I'm very selective about what gets encrypted and I'd say everything I encrypt now can be easily replaced but compromising the data would be either dangerous or embarrassing. Again, sorry I don't have a real answer. Generally when something is "on the tip of your tongue", relaxing and moving onto something else is the best way to dislodge it. Other than that, I really don't know.
- supersecure 13y ago
  Thank you, some food for thought in there. I have tried just relaxing and moving onto something else. I've spent most of the last couple days doing other things, particularly keeping up with work which I don't have much of a choice in. Sometimes I'm able to, other times it's hard to concentrate and focus when I'm worried about the loss of so much. I fear that if I keep trying now I might burn in a false memory, but OTOH if I wait a while without trying it might be totally gone.
tjr 13y ago
Here's a shot in the dark: I have often found that, if there was some particular music that I was listening to at a time in my life, then, even years later, listening to that same music can flood my mind with all sorts of memories from what I first and/or often listened to the music. Maybe there was some song you listened to a lot when (a) selecting the password, or (b) entering it frequently?
- supersecure 13y ago
  Thank you, I will give that a try.
gradschool 13y ago
Hypnosis?

2 points by supersecure 13y ago

ppjim 13y ago

You can try this. I hope this help you. http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Something-That-You-Forgot http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Something-That-You-Forgot http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-a-Forgotten-Password http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-a-Forgotten-Password

migrantgeek 13y ago

I'm sorry, I have no advice to give however I can relate. I've forgotten passphrases to a lot of things. I once locked myself out of a set of backups I needed which meant a great deal to me. Photos that can never be restored, writings, etc. After that event I kicked myself hard for a while for not testing my backups on a regular basis which would have reminded me that my backups were encrypted and I should've maybe written down the phrase somewhere safe. Time passed and I got over it but the lesson learned changed. Testing backups is still important but I started questioning why I was encrypting my backups at all. Was I really worried someone would find some old pictures and things I wrote a decade ago? Not really. It would be unlikely for someone to break into my home and then my safe and take my hard drive with backup data on it. Even if that happened, I don't think my first thought would have been "oh no, that thief can see my old photos now". Being honest with myself, I realized I was encrypting because it was cool and techie to do so. I guess what I'm saying is that encryption is a damn powerful tool. So powerful that it could even reject the owner at some point. I still use encryption but now I make choices about what I encrypt. Would I prefer greater accessibility or security? For most things, accessibility wins out so I'm very selective about what gets encrypted and I'd say everything I encrypt now can be easily replaced but compromising the data would be either dangerous or embarrassing. Again, sorry I don't have a real answer. Generally when something is "on the tip of your tongue", relaxing and moving onto something else is the best way to dislodge it. Other than that, I really don't know.

supersecure 13y ago
Thank you, some food for thought in there. I have tried just relaxing and moving onto something else. I've spent most of the last couple days doing other things, particularly keeping up with work which I don't have much of a choice in. Sometimes I'm able to, other times it's hard to concentrate and focus when I'm worried about the loss of so much. I fear that if I keep trying now I might burn in a false memory, but OTOH if I wait a while without trying it might be totally gone.

tjr 13y ago

Here's a shot in the dark: I have often found that, if there was some particular music that I was listening to at a time in my life, then, even years later, listening to that same music can flood my mind with all sorts of memories from what I first and/or often listened to the music. Maybe there was some song you listened to a lot when (a) selecting the password, or (b) entering it frequently?

supersecure 13y ago
Thank you, I will give that a try.

gradschool 13y ago

Hypnosis?