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Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

bbc.co.uk

61–70 of 118 posts

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bruteforced a 4-digit 2FA in 2 days, of course with the help of a small script instead of trying it myself. It's always fun to see dumb solutions work.

if it works, it's not a dumb solution :)

"If it's stupid and it works, then it's not stupid" — my motto

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#62

If the combination does allow for wiggle room and the 1 in 8000 figure is correct, the code could have been brute forced in a couple hours. Source: my wife has a habit of forgetting the combination to her 3 digit luggage lock and I had to brute force it a few times (it's surprisingly quick, about 15 minutes) :)

The good thing about normal combination locks is that you can try all combinations sequentially with minimum movement. 000 start 001 1 move 002 1 move ... 008 1 move 009 1 move 019 1 move 018 1 move ... 011 1 move 010 1 move 020 1 move 021 1 move ... and so on.

That sounds similar to the concept of Gray code [0].

For electronic locks, there is a similar method that allows you to try a 4-digit code for each key press [1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_code [1] http://alvaray.org/brute-forcing-pincode-keypads-using-combi...

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#63

> "They have no value really, but they are of great interest to us. It gives us a little bit of idea of what the places were like in 1977, '78," said Mr Kibblewhite. This must be the most American thing ever. 40 year old stuff treated like they're ancient.

>This must be the most American thing ever. Guys, who's going to be the one to tell him?

>guys, who's going to be the one to tell him?

Guys, who's going to be the one to tell him ?

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#64

> "They have no value really, but they are of great interest to us. It gives us a little bit of idea of what the places were like in 1977, '78," said Mr Kibblewhite. This must be the most American thing ever. 40 year old stuff treated like they're ancient.

In much the same way as your comment being the most European thing ever.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#65

> "They have no value really, but they are of great interest to us. It gives us a little bit of idea of what the places were like in 1977, '78," said Mr Kibblewhite. This must be the most American thing ever. 40 year old stuff treated like they're ancient.

This must be the most HN thing ever. Picking a single thing out of an article and using it to criticize Americans.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The good thing about normal combination locks is that you can try all combinations sequentially with minimum movement. 000 start 001 1 move 002 1 move ... 008 1 move 009 1 move 019 1 move 018 1 move ... 011 1 move 010 1 move 020 1 move 021 1 move ... and so on.

I feel like saving 1 move in 10 (9 to 10 is 2 moves, 10 to 11 is back to 1 move) is not worth the mental capacity required to remember current up/down direction. Easier to let the muscles do the work and let your mind wonder.

That's a good point, though I do think that it's not that big of a mental hurdle. Consider knitting, for example.

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#68
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The good thing about normal combination locks is that you can try all combinations sequentially with minimum movement. 000 start 001 1 move 002 1 move ... 008 1 move 009 1 move 019 1 move 018 1 move ... 011 1 move 010 1 move 020 1 move 021 1 move ... and so on.

That sounds similar to the concept of Gray code [0]. For electronic locks, there is a similar method that allows you to try a 4-digit code for each key press [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_code [1] http://alvaray.org/brute-forcing-pincode-keypads-using-combi...

Yup, that's the general idea I also had in mind.

Those "try all n in shortest combination" sequences are called De Bruijn sequences in general.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Bruijn_sequence

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#69

> "They have no value really, but they are of great interest to us. It gives us a little bit of idea of what the places were like in 1977, '78," said Mr Kibblewhite. This must be the most American thing ever. 40 year old stuff treated like they're ancient.

Canadian

Re: Tourist's lucky guess cracks safe code on first try

#70
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>This must be the most American thing ever. Guys, who's going to be the one to tell him?

I’m sure the Canadians will be here shortly to correct him.

The sentence right before is: The pad included receipts for a mushroom burger for C$1.50 ($1.12; £0.59) and a package of cigarettes for C$1.00.
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