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'Sorry, I've forgotten my decryption password' is contempt of court, pal – US appeal judges

Kiwi

I find it rather hard to believe he has "lost" the password.

Years ago I started writing a novel, worked a bit on it every day for some months. I was distrustful of those around me so I kept it encrypted when not working on it. The file name itself gave me a key to the password. One day, after several months of constant work, something happened. One possibility is that I forgot the password despite the strong clue as to its content. The other (which I would think is far less likely) is that somehow the password for the file got altered accidentally. I don't recall if I kept more than one copy of the file (but I suspect I would've done), but if I did then I couldn't open any version which means the problem probably was with me. To this day, despite the clue, I cannot open the file. I am more than 90% certain of what the password should, I have a good memory for these things, but I simply cannot get the file to open.

It would be interesting to know how long since the drives were last used, If they were in regular use recently then despite what I've written above it's probable he remembers the password OK, but if he hasn't used them for a couple of years then that's another matter, quite possible he has forgotten the passwords and the ones he's tried are honest attempts at unlocking the drive.

Personally, with the exception of my novel, I don't keep any encrypted stuff past it's intended use, there's little more frustrating than a drive that might have something useful on it but is encrypted and you can't recall the password. I'd rather wipe it and know it is gone.

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