Silk Road forums

Discussion => Security => Topic started by: THE_DEX_FACTOR on August 02, 2012, 11:23 am

Title: Help! Vendor (me) needs to mail orders but lost passphrase!
Post by: THE_DEX_FACTOR on August 02, 2012, 11:23 am
Hi any computer genius's out there? I got my passphrases for 4 PGP keys discombobulated (don't ask me how - I'm a bit stressed and rushed .... ughhh)..... I know I have them all stored somewhere? on my comp, but can't find them. I have the current key,  fingerprint etc, but I need my particular passphrase for that current public PGP so I can decrypt some orders and get them out. I'm 3 wks new to this and about 1 wk new to PGP .... If anyone has any ideas about retrieving my current passphrase for my own PGP  key (on my page) I would love to hear from you. Thanks.
Cheers,
TDF
Title: Re: Help! Vendor (me) needs to mail orders but lost passphrase!
Post by: LouisCyphre on August 02, 2012, 01:09 pm
Hi any computer genius's out there? I got my passphrases for 4 PGP keys discombobulated (don't ask me how - I'm a bit stressed and rushed .... ughhh)..... I know I have them all stored somewhere? on my comp, but can't find them. I have the current key,  fingerprint etc, but I need my particular passphrase for that current public PGP so I can decrypt some orders and get them out. I'm 3 wks new to this and about 1 wk new to PGP .... If anyone has any ideas about retrieving my current passphrase for my own PGP  key (on my page) I would love to hear from you. Thanks.

There is no way to retrieve a passphrase from a key other than to brute force it and if you used a sufficiently strong passphrase then that is not going to be feasible.

You will need to either remember the passphrase or locate the file you saved it in.

If you are at risk of losing or forgetting your passphrase (especially if you have multiple keys) then you should store your passphrase in a secure password manager like KeePass (for Windows) or KeePassX (Linux and OS X).  Keep the KeePass(X) database in the encrypted volume you run your Tor from.
Title: Re: Help! Vendor (me) needs to mail orders but lost passphrase!
Post by: Goofy Hippy on August 02, 2012, 02:25 pm
I agree. Been there/done that~ makes you feel like an idiot but you just make a new key for you orders, contact any members for orders or what ever you're doing with them and include your new key in that message (so they don't have to go look for it!) and apologize, ask them to resend what ever it is they sent you and to please use that new key.

Problem solved!

Oh yeh, then delete all you other keys. You'll never find the pf for them, why stress on it!
Title: Re: Help! Vendor (me) needs to mail orders but lost passphrase!
Post by: LouisCyphre on August 02, 2012, 02:45 pm
I agree. Been there/done that~ makes you feel like an idiot

we all do it at least once.  It's just that for me it happened years ago.  ;)

but you just make a new key for you orders, contact any members for orders or what ever you're doing with them and include your new key in that message (so they don't have to go look for it!) and apologize, ask them to resend what ever it is they sent you and to please use that new key.

Yep, if the passphrase can't be retrieved that's all you can do.

Oh yeh, then delete all you other keys. You'll never find the pf for them, why stress on it!

I wouldn't permanently delete the old keys.  I'd back them up somewhere in case I did remember or locate the passphrase, but then remove them from the secret keyring that I use regularly.

That way if the passphrase did turn up I could revoke those old keys properly.