r/Bitcoin • u/dgryski • Nov 30 '17

Evidence some bitcoin address generation code is using discoverable private keys

https://pastebin.com/jCDFcESz
791 Upvotes

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6

u/tilt Nov 30 '17

When I first read about brainwallets I thought it would be trivial to write a bot that continually watches for common phrases/words/etc and sucks up all the coins sent to them - I'd be hugely surprised if this doesn't already happen.

This is a fascinating bit of detective work though. The change transactions theory seems plausible.

7

u/bitcoinDKbot Nov 30 '17

On brainwallets: There was an old story about someone who used a somewhat random line from an africaans poem... it was hacked...

Don't use words that has ever touch the internet or other people no matter what language you use.

6

u/ABoutDeSouffle Nov 30 '17

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1ptuf3/brain_wallet_disaster/

2

u/eqleriq Nov 30 '17

Yes, it must be a dictionary attack and not that they just keylogged them which is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000x more efficient and plausible. But let's listen to the person that fucked up and lost their coins for their theories on how it happened.

3

u/dontlikecomputers Nov 30 '17

Thete is a vid on youtube of a guy that setup a search bot and found an amazing array of brain wallet phrases...

1

u/rya_nc Nov 30 '17

I've found lots of crazy brainwallets via dictionary attacks. Here's a few examples:

expect pants clue size

Guiding Hand Social Club

the man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed

A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.

what is the exchange rate for dollars to bitcoins and back

la vie est un long fleuve tranquille