FBI decrypting files from Bitfinex hack

[Tom Riker]

Hi, I am just wondering what do you think on which encryption did Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein use to encrypt files on his cloud account that FBI managed to hack. Thinking if someone new a thing or two about crypto space, he would encrypt files with some proper encryption - especially since the files are in the cloud.

Basically I am wondering what are current technical capabilities of decryption by USA government. Maybe I should tweet Snowden =D

Link to DoJ warrant with info: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1470186/download

[1715350284]

1715350284

[1715350284]

1715350284

[1715350284]

1715350284

[1715350284]

1715350284

[1715350284]

1715350284

[OgNasty]

Hi, I am just wondering what do you think on which encryption did Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein use to encrypt files on his cloud account that FBI managed to hack. Thinking if someone new a thing or two about crypto space, he would encrypt files with some proper encryption - especially since the files are in the cloud.

Basically I am wondering what are current technical capabilities of decryption by USA government. Maybe I should tweet Snowden =D

Link to DoJ warrant with info: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1470186/download

I've heard conflicting stories about how this happened.  My understanding was that they didn't really have to hack anything.  The keys were allegedly held in his Google Drive account, so it's not like private keys or encryption was hacked (as far as I'm aware).  Absolutely amazing that this guy had over 5 years and billions of dollars as an incentive to learn how to use Bitcoin privately, but he still kept keys on a cloud server that his computer had access to, probably with a password saved in his computer's cache.  It makes you wonder, how could someone be so smart when it comes to hacking, but so foolish as to what to do with stolen funds.  Reminds me of that movie Office Space.  "There were big grains of salt on the glass."

[JeromeTash]

It makes you wonder, how could someone be so smart when it comes to hacking, but so foolish as to what to do with stolen funds.

Because one doesn't need to be too "smart" or technically gifted in order to pull off a hack, especially due to a vulnerability on a website or service. Sometimes hackers discover a vulnerability by mistake or by trying out silly things/tricks 

[cmg777]

It makes you wonder, how could someone be so smart when it comes to hacking, but so foolish as to what to do with stolen funds.

Because one doesn't need to be too "smart" or technically gifted in order to pull off a hack, especially due to a vulnerability on a website or service. Sometimes hackers discover a vulnerability by mistake or by trying out silly things/tricks 

Yup here are the two patsies that did it all:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10490713/Crocodile-Wall-Street-Heather-Morgan-husband-Ilya-Lichtenstein-charged-money-laundering.html

[Tom Riker]

It would be good if this case actually went to court and we get the info about the legal proceedings, rather than an agreement being made between them an FBI behind closed door without much info coming out into public.

It is a bit weird that he kept everything in the cloud together with keys. Obviously he knows that encryption exists, so why render it useless by being reckless like that. I mean, I agree that you can hack things without being a genius, just trial and error would sometimes suffice. But I cannot go around the fact that he had years and billions as incentive to figure things out, as mentioned in the post above.

[Gyfts]

This is the women's twitter account: https://twitter.com/HeatherReyhan


Frankly she should have been arrested for her twitter account alone, with her husband along as a co-conspirator.

File it under crimes against humanity. You can find her TikTok account, it's even worse.

These folks aren't the geniuses behind the hack from what I'm reading, but eventually the hacked coins were sent to them. Makes sense, I don't suspect these folks have the brain cells to boil water.

[BernyJB]

...but so foolish as to what to do with stolen funds.

I seem to have heard in another movie (great information sources ) that's how most criminals are caught: they plan everything up to the fact, but they don't plan the aftermath.
Then again, from what I read about the girl, she's far from a genius.

As far as I'm concerned, this tells me a few things:

1. US law is relentless. No matter how many years have passed, if a crime is unresolved, it's unresolved, and it stays open. That's exactly the way it should be. I kinda remember a case a few years ago, that was solved after over 80 years of being perpetrated. I wish we had that kind of law in Argentina...

2. I was told a long time ago "when a secret is known by two people, it stops being a secret". The guy wasn't such a genius, but the girl is as stupid as they come, continually running her mouth, rapping about the whole thing, taunting the authorities. If you break the law, keep it to yourself, you don't need to broadcast it.

3. As little as I read about it, the cops seem to have already seized most of the assets. It doesn't look they have much to offer on a negotiation.

4. what I don't understand is how you "get caught" trying to launder stolen crypto 5 years after the fact. I mean, all they had to do was buy a privacy coin, like Monero, and they're clean. What's so difficult about the whole thing, that may take you 5 years to do?

[Quickseller]

Hi, I am just wondering what do you think on which encryption did Ilya "Dutch" Lichtenstein use to encrypt files on his cloud account that FBI managed to hack. Thinking if someone new a thing or two about crypto space, he would encrypt files with some proper encryption - especially since the files are in the cloud.

Most likely the files were encrypted with some kind of passphrase rather than a private key stored on a device. Using a passphrase is less secure, however it gives a level of plausible deniability as the key will never be found on any of your devices.

The specific encryption algorithm is not important, as it is very unlikely the FBI was able to break the encryption -- they were simply able to brute force the passphrase.

[lumbanrang]

I laughed and couldn't stop thinking when I found out that a hacker who managed to hack bitcoins of that size stored the private key of his bitcoin wallet in cloud storage which the FBI did not require any technique to access. This will be a lesson to others that cloud storage is not completely secure.