They Cracked the Code to a Locked USB Drive Worth $235 Million in Bitcoin. Then It Got Weird

Stefan Thomas lost the password to an encrypted USB drive holding 7,002 bitcoins. One team of hackers believes they can unlock it—if they can get Thomas to let them.

Highlights

• Hackers have cracked the password to an encrypted USB drive holding 7,002 bitcoins.
• Hackers believe they can unlock the key to a 2011-era model of an IronKey S200 that’s vulnerable to cracking technique.
• They believe that in a vault in a Swiss bank 5,000 miles to the east of their Seattle lab, a similar model of IronKey holds the keys to 7,000 bitcoins, worth close to $235 million at current exchange rates.
• Stefan Thomas has said in interviews that he’s already tried eight incorrect guesses, leaving only two more tries before the IronKey erases the keys stored on it and he loses access to his bitcoins forever.

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