In brief
- AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett revealed Wednesday how a data scientist unlocked over $6 million from a crypto wallet held by an “alleged criminal.”
- The data scientist was able to access the wallet by identifying fabricated digits in a seed phrase sequence.
- The same analyst has since cracked another wallet using a different method, recovering more than $1.9 million (AU$3 million), Barrett said.
The Australian Federal Police Commissioner has revealed how a data scientist within the AFP’s Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) was able to crack open a crypto wallet worth $6 million (AU$9 million) held by an alleged criminal.
AFP Commissioner Krissy Barrett detailed the breakthrough Wednesday during her National Press Club address, describing how the agency nearly let a seizure worth millions slip through their fingers until one analyst’s hunch paid off.
“We knew if we couldn’t open the crypto wallet, and if the alleged offender was sentenced, upon release he would leave prison a multi-millionaire—all from the profits of organised crime,” Barrett said. “For our members, that was not an acceptable outcome.”
The data scientist was able to access the wallet by spotting a pattern that computers missed, a human touch in what was supposed to be a machine-generated security code.
A numbers game
The analyst was presented with an image displaying random numbers and words, divided into groups of six with “more than 50 variations of the number groups,” Barrett explained.
After having “one of those scientific epiphanies,” the analyst realised that the alleged criminal had “tried to create a crypto booby prize in how the numbers were presented,” Barrett said.
After stripping the first digit from each sequence, what remained was decoded into a 24-word recovery phrase.
When asked how he figured it out, the analyst said the numbers didn’t look computer-generated—”they looked like a human had modified the sequence by adding numbers to the front of some sequences,” Barrett said.
She held up the case as proof that raw computing power has its limits, noting “while computer power is essential, it is not always as creative and innovative as a human.”
The same analyst has since reportedly cracked another wallet using a different method, recovering more than $1.9 million (AU$3 million), the AFP commissioner added.
If a court orders the crypto forfeited, Barrett said the funds will be directed to a Commonwealth account that is “redistributed by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke to fund various crime prevention measures to help keep Australia safe.”
Operation Kraken and crypto
The “well-connected alleged criminal” who owned the wallet is suspected of having “stockpiled cryptocurrency from selling a tech-type product to alleged criminals around the world,” Barrett said.
The police refused to confirm to Decrypt which case the Commissioner was referencing, “as the matter is in front of the court.”
Australian police have conducted a number of seizures under Operation Kraken, a sweeping investigation into organized crime. Last September, the AFP announced that it had seized $6.1 million (AU$9.3 million) following the arrest of Jay Je Yoon Jung, who is accused of creating and maintaining Ghost, an encrypted messaging platform used by organized crime syndicates worldwide.
It was the second major asset seizure under Operation Kraken, which has no affiliation with the crypto exchange of the same name. AFP officers were able to secure the millions in cryptocurrency after “analysis of digital devices” enabled CACT to decipher the wallet’s seed phrase.
To date, the operation has racked up 46 arrests, 93 search warrants, and stopped 50 threats to life, according to the AFP.
Police have also seized 30 illegal firearms, prevented 200 kilograms of drugs from hitting the streets, and restrained AU$11.09 million ($7.2 million) in total assets.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
