In the world of cryptocurrency, where security and secrecy reign supreme, one forgotten password can mean the loss of millions. But for a man known only as Michael, a stroke of luck—and the persistence of a renowned hardware hacker—turned a near-certain financial disaster into a multi-million-dollar recovery.
Michael, a European cryptocurrency holder who wishes to remain anonymous, once secured approximately 43.6 BTC—worth around $5,300 in 2013 but nearly $2 million at today’s prices—in a digital wallet protected by a 20-character password. He used RoboForm, a popular password manager, to generate the password, then stored it in a file encrypted with TrueCrypt. When that file became corrupted, he lost access not only to the password but to his entire fortune.
“I was really paranoid about security back then,” Michael recalled with a laugh. “I didn’t want anyone hacking my computer and getting the password.”
The Call for Help
Enter Joe Grand, a legendary figure in the hardware hacking community. Known by his hacker alias “Kingpin,” Grand is an electrical engineer who began tinkering with computer hardware at age 10 and co-hosted the Discovery Channel’s Prototype This in 2008. He gained widespread attention in 2022 when he successfully recovered access to a Trezor hardware wallet containing $2 million in cryptocurrency—by reverse-engineering the device’s firmware and bypassing its PIN protection using advanced hardware techniques.
Since that breakthrough, dozens of people have reached out to Grand, hoping he could perform a similar miracle for their lost crypto. But most requests were declined. Michael was initially turned away when he first contacted Grand two years ago—partly because his wallet was software-based, not hardware, rendering Grand’s specialized skills less applicable.
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A Flawed Randomness
Michael didn’t give up. In June of the following year, he reconnected with Grand, this time persuading him to take on the challenge—with help from Bruno, a fellow expert in digital wallet recovery based in Germany.
Their mission? Crack a 20-character password generated by RoboForm in 2013. At first glance, brute-forcing such a password would require testing trillions of combinations—an impossible task. But Grand and Bruno suspected a critical flaw: pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) used in older software often rely on predictable inputs like system time.
After months of reverse-engineering the version of RoboForm Michael likely used, they confirmed their hunch. The program tied password generation directly to the computer’s date and time—meaning that if you knew when the password was created, you could reproduce it exactly.
“If you control the clock,” Grand explained, “you control the output.”
The catch? Michael couldn’t remember the exact date or time he generated the password.
Narrowing the Search
Using logs from Michael’s software wallet, they determined his first Bitcoin transaction occurred on April 14, 2013. They assumed the password was created around that time and began generating passwords across a range of dates—from March 1 to April 20—using various character configurations: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters.
No match.
They extended the window to June 1. Still nothing.
Michael grew frustrated. “They kept asking me questions—‘Are you sure about the settings?’ Who remembers exactly what they did ten years ago?” he said.
But then came a breakthrough. Michael found two other passwords he had generated with RoboForm in 2013—neither used special characters. That small clue changed everything.
Grand and Bruno adjusted their parameters accordingly and reset their system clock to May 15, 2013—the date that finally unlocked the correct password: generated at exactly 4:10:40 PM GMT.
“It was pure luck we picked the right parameters and timeframe,” Grand admitted in an email to WIRED. “If any one thing had been off, we’d still be guessing blindly.”
The Hidden Risk in Old Passwords
RoboForm, developed by U.S.-based Siber Systems, is one of the oldest and most widely used password managers, with over 6 million users globally. According to company reports, the vulnerability was patched in version 7.9.14, released on June 10, 2015. The update note vaguely stated improvements to “increase randomness” in password generation—but offered no technical details.
Siber Systems confirmed the fix but declined to explain how it was implemented. Simon Davis, a company spokesperson, noted that RoboForm 7 was discontinued in 2017.
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But here’s the danger: millions may still be using passwords created before the 2015 patch—passwords that are far less random than they appear.
“If users weren’t notified to regenerate their passwords after the fix,” Grand warned, “those old credentials could still be vulnerable to reconstruction.”
He emphasized that many people never change passwords unless forced to—and even today, he found 220 of his own 935 stored passwords were created before 2015 and remain in active use.
Without knowing exactly how Siber improved their PRNG algorithm, Grand remains cautious: “I’m not sure RoboForm fully grasped how severe this weakness was.”
From Loss to Windfall
In November of last year, Grand and Bruno finally delivered the recovered password to Michael. As compensation, they took a percentage of the recovered Bitcoin—valued at $38,000 per coin at the time.
Michael held on as prices climbed. When Bitcoin hit $62,000, he sold part of his stash. Today, he retains **30 BTC**, worth over **$3 million, and is waiting for the price to reach $100,000 per coin**.
Ironically, forgetting his password turned out to be one of the best financial decisions he ever made.
“If I hadn’t lost it,” Michael said, “I probably would’ve sold everything at $40,000 and missed out on this.”
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“Forgetting the password was economically beneficial.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can old RoboForm passwords still be hacked today?
A: Yes—if they were generated before June 2015 using vulnerable versions of the software. Attackers with knowledge of the system clock and parameters can potentially regenerate them.
Q: How did Joe Grand crack the Trezor wallet in 2022?
A: He used hardware-based fault injection techniques to bypass the PIN lockout mechanism, allowing him to extract encryption keys directly from the device’s memory.
Q: Should I trust my current password manager?
A: Reputable modern managers use cryptographically secure random number generators. However, always ensure your software is up to date and avoid using legacy versions for sensitive accounts.
Q: What can I do if I’ve lost my crypto wallet password?
A: If it’s a hardware wallet, consult experts in secure recovery methods. For software wallets, recovery depends heavily on how the password was generated and stored—some cases may be unsolvable.
Q: Is brute-forcing a crypto wallet ever feasible?
A: Only under rare circumstances—such as weak or predictable passwords. With strong randomness, brute force is computationally impossible.
Q: Did Siber Systems notify users about the RoboForm vulnerability?
A: There is no public evidence they issued user alerts in 2015 recommending password regeneration—leaving many potentially exposed.
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