Hackers Are Trying To Break Into This Bitcoin Wallet Holding $690 Million

[dothebeats]

If this is some sort of a puzzle which is occasionally being provided by some people for a cash prize then I would have understand. However, this is just a random address which happen to carry millions of $ worth of bitcoins in it and people are just blindly trying their luck to brute-force the private key. It can happen although the odds are just infinitesimally small with the amount of processing power and the current spec of the processors that we in this day and age.

I'd be surprised if they were able to get something off of what they're doing but this is just some guys thinking they have figured something out which the world hasn't yet.

[kryptqnick]

Hackers Are Trying To Break Into This Bitcoin Wallet Holding $690 Million
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv8k4v/hackers-are-trying-to-break-into-this-bitcoin-wallet-holding-dollar690-million

https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx

I'm not sure if this is a real wallet or if this article is an advertisement for RaidForums.

If it's about decrypting the wallet, Vice is right that it's next to impossible. But bob123 is probably right that they're just trying to get the password right. If the 2FA was enabled, even a password would not help them to get the money. I don't understand why people do such things, to be honest, because not only it's a low-probability win, it's also morally wrong. So I hope they won't succeed in this venue, and the money will remain in the wallet (if the story is even true). It could be news if they already got in, but since it's just about attempts, I don't understand why it's worthy of an article.

[crwth]

How can one be so sure that it's for that wallet, though? Just because it's posted like that? It can be a prank or something.  

As mentioned in the article it is possible that scammers are trying to sell the DAT file editing to look like the hot wallet.

I know, that's why I'm saddened to people who are getting their hopes up with that DAT file without knowing the possible hardships that could happen. Just like what Brewmaster said, the lack of knowledge meaning someone could take advantage of this. It's like The Jackpot Awaits. A gimmicked game, just like in carnivals.

[Fundamentals Of]

There must always be ongoing attempts to break into very rich Bitcoin wallets.

And the message to them is: let them try harder because it's nearly impossible for any machine to break Bitcoin wallet. Sometimes when the issue of breaking into wallet arise many get negative vibes, the quantum computers to my understanding can take years before this can be a reality(if only Satoshi allows it to happen). Those algorithms aren't just what can break without a heavy price paid, like what can be done before a transaction can be reverse(connect all nodes). Maybe this can be actualize when all Bitcoin might have been mined IMO.

You must be aware that there are already a number of successful attempts to break into rich Bitcoin wallets. How many centralized exchanges have fallen victim to online robbers? A lot. These online robbers have indeed tried harder and got a few steps ahead of these exchanges' security and got their Bitcoins.

Forget about Satoshi. He's gone now. It is not anymore in his hands whether quantum computing would end up sufficient enough to break into Bitcoin wallets or not.

[audaciousbeing]

Hackers Are Trying To Break Into This Bitcoin Wallet Holding $690 Million
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv8k4v/hackers-are-trying-to-break-into-this-bitcoin-wallet-holding-dollar690-million

https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx

I'm not sure if this is a real wallet or if this article is an advertisement for RaidForums.

I read about it some days back and even it was titled a bounty. I guessed the owner of the wallet himself posted it in other to send a message and unleashed the community of hackers on himself so there is nothing wrong about this. Its a competition and a rat race waiting for who will get to the finish line and take the prize.

[BASE16]

Success usually involves some less secure situations.
People who hold coins on older p2pk, or on addresses that have been spent from and reveal their public point, are advised to transfer their coins to a more modern location ASAP.

[FTrader]

You must be aware that there are already a number of successful attempts to break into rich Bitcoin wallets. How many centralized exchanges have fallen victim to online robbers? A lot. These online robbers have indeed tried harder and got a few steps ahead of these exchanges' security and got their Bitcoins.

I think most of the successfully cracked addresses has been done because of social hacking or trojan, and not pass brute forcing.

[Fundamentals Of]

You must be aware that there are already a number of successful attempts to break into rich Bitcoin wallets. How many centralized exchanges have fallen victim to online robbers? A lot. These online robbers have indeed tried harder and got a few steps ahead of these exchanges' security and got their Bitcoins.

I think most of the successfully cracked addresses has been done because of social hacking or trojan, and not pass brute forcing.

Yes, not brute forcing. But regardless, it means lost or robbed Bitcoins. So it does not matter whether it is through brute forcing or through hacks or phishing or a virus. Whatever the means the Bitcoin was taken without consent, the point is that there is a real threat at hand all the time as in always, 24/7.

[coolcoinz]

It sure is a big wallet but not the only one around the Internet. I remember threads on this forum where people were asking for help getting into their wallets. There are many smaller wallet.dat files circulating around the Internet and I haven't heard of a single case where someone managed to find the password.
Technically if someone was dumb and put a short password with no capital letters or numbers you could bruteforce it so it's not a completely futile attempt. Even if it takes a year of running the program 24/7 one should be able to do it. I think that it's only a mater of time before someone does it. Whether finding the password will really give them access to the money is a different matter.

Theoretically, quantum computer can break bitcoin blockchain if it can derive the private key in less than 5 minutes, which I don't think we computer scientists can't do in the next 5 to 10 years.

Theoretically there's life on other planets and it's possible to warp space and travel to distant galaxies

[BASE16]

Yes but there is a lot of awkwardness rotating around that specific address.
When you calculate the uncompressed address from that public key and you want to look up it's balance on google, you get something extraordinary.
This is not by accident.

[pawanjain]

Hackers Are Trying To Break Into This Bitcoin Wallet Holding $690 Million
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv8k4v/hackers-are-trying-to-break-into-this-bitcoin-wallet-holding-dollar690-million

https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx

I'm not sure if this is a real wallet or if this article is an advertisement for RaidForums.

It can't be more silly. I think those people should not even be called as hackers since even an average bitcoin holder knows that brute forcing a wallet is a complete waste. If it were to be a real hackers then they would rather try finding and compromising the device on which the wallet was previously used and then decrypting the private key from the device. Anyway, articles like these have been previously posted on this forum but nobody actually got anywhere with brute forcing.

[taufik123]

calling people who are trying to brute force a private key by having only the address "hackers" is an insult to hackers and computer programmers and to math... they are just newbies who have no understanding of cryptography nor size of numbers.
if there were even a teeny tiny chance of something like this happening, bitcoin and a lot of other things on the internet including banking system would have died.

of course this lack of knowledge is also being abused by a different type of scammers selling them fake wallet files, fake or even malicious programs to run,...

Yes scammers make good use of it to take advantage of the ignorance of others who believe in fake wallet files, fake programs etc that scammers sell.
Even scams like this are quite classic and are done probably regularly by scammers.

Many feel capable of hacking wallets with a large number of bitcoins, but that's just gibberish and they are just hackers who don't understand cryptography. It is impossible to hack the private key of bitcoin, except by means of a social attack on the owner of the wallet.

[BASE16]

It's not impossible, in fact it is inevitable.
Bitcoin only has one enemy: Time
Given enough time a collision will take place with a mathematical certainty.
This does not mean that it is feasible.
The energy and time needed to reverse engineer a key are astronomical.
But that does not mean that it is impossible.

Also i have said it before, cases vary from situation to situation.
I know that there were key's that were already discovered in the lower 64 bit spectrum.
Or take for example the many sha256 hacked brain wallets.
I also know that there are still many robots online that will monitor these wallets and instantly absorb any and all satoshi that arrives there.

You can run around shouting impossible all day long, but it has already been done before and many times actually,
The thing is that these events all happened in less secure situations.
So its fair to say that it is unfeasible under normal strong cryptographic circumstances.
But not impossible it just boils down to a combination of time energy hardware and luck.

[bob123]

It can't be more silly. I think those people should not even be called as hackers since even an average bitcoin holder knows that brute forcing a wallet is a complete waste. If it were to be a real hackers then they would rather try finding and compromising the device on which the wallet was previously used and then decrypting the private key from the device.

You should read the OP more carefully.
It is not about bruteforcing private keys, but about bruteforcing the password of a wallet.dat file.

Those two things are completely different. Bruteforcing a private key is not feasible, yes indeed. But cracking a password can be possible. It purely depends on the strength of the password.

[...]
Or take for example the many sha256 hacked brain wallets.
[...]
But not impossible it just boils down to a combination of time energy hardware and luck.

Brain wallets are cracked because people are dumb and the entropy is low enough to be bruteforced.
There already have been quite some brain wallets emptied which were derived from the rockyou.txt password list (most used passwords).

Bruteforcing private keys is (and won't be) feasible.

[AmoreJaz]

It can't be more silly. I think those people should not even be called as hackers since even an average bitcoin holder knows that brute forcing a wallet is a complete waste. If it were to be a real hackers then they would rather try finding and compromising the device on which the wallet was previously used and then decrypting the private key from the device.

You should read the OP more carefully.
It is not about bruteforcing private keys, but about bruteforcing the password of a wallet.dat file.

Those two things are completely different. Bruteforcing a private key is not feasible, yes indeed. But cracking a password can be possible. It purely depends on the strength of the password.

[...]
Or take for example the many sha256 hacked brain wallets.
[...]
But not impossible it just boils down to a combination of time energy hardware and luck.

Brain wallets are cracked because people are dumb and the entropy is low enough to be bruteforced.
There already have been quite some brain wallets emptied which were derived from the rockyou.txt password list (most used passwords).

Bruteforcing private keys is (and won't be) feasible.

bruteforcing a password is really possible. but still a very difficult job for hackers.
 on the other hand, can a quantum computer do the trick of getting that pw easily? because if we are talking millions of dollars here, someone who has access with quantum computers may try this decrypting the pw. but first, is the wallet.dat file circulating the real one? i guess just as fake as it can be.

[bbc.reporter]

Hackers Are Trying To Break Into This Bitcoin Wallet Holding $690 Million
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv8k4v/hackers-are-trying-to-break-into-this-bitcoin-wallet-holding-dollar690-million

https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx

I'm not sure if this is a real wallet or if this article is an advertisement for RaidForums.

It is clickbait and spreading fear. However, what would presumably occur is the IRS might begin following the movements of some addresses in bitcoin's richlist and their transactions.

Can the government order an exchange to freeze the account if it received a transaction from one of the marked addresses in the richlist?

[Leviathan.007]

These are not called actually hackers, these are some crackers trying to bruteforce the passwords using some kinda super strong computer. Actually the there is nothing new here, the idea of quantum computer was made long time ago but the thing is the price for the assembling quantum computer is just crazy and in my own idea none will ever create such computer just for bruteforceing some bitcoin wallet. So, in the current stage of technology it doesn't worth of creating such computer.

[worldofcoins]

Hackers Are Trying To Break Into This Bitcoin Wallet Holding $690 Million
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bv8k4v/hackers-are-trying-to-break-into-this-bitcoin-wallet-holding-dollar690-million

https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1HQ3Go3ggs8pFnXuHVHRytPCq5fGG8Hbhx

I'm not sure if this is a real wallet or if this article is an advertisement for RaidForums.

I don't think they're going to be successful in doing so.
It's true bitcoin's algorithm will be outdated in future but it will take at least 100-200 more years.

[CryptoSh1va]

I wonder why hackers hope that the password will fit from the dictionary, because there is most likely some special and complex secret.
For example one or two sentences from a book

[Cryptoreflector_666]

These are not called actually hackers, these are some crackers trying to bruteforce the passwords using some kinda super strong computer. Actually the there is nothing new here, the idea of quantum computer was made long time ago but the thing is the price for the assembling quantum computer is just crazy and in my own idea none will ever create such computer just for bruteforceing some bitcoin wallet. So, in the current stage of technology it doesn't worth of creating such computer.

What's wrong with simply bootstrapping your wallet? Imagine that you need to create a computer in order to safely open any bitcoin wallet and withdraw funds from it. Given the capitalization of bitcoin today, this is a very solid and unobvious investment. As you wrote, no one will even think about it - this is another plus in order to implement it.