The chrome extension (http://blockchain.info/wallet/chrome-extension) will also work offline in as far as allowing the export of your private keys but the correct balance and transactions will not be shown.
Topic: blockchain.info wallet backups are worthless if blockchain.info is offline (Read 1911 times)
April 23, 2013, 07:03:08 AM
Instructions on how to restore a backup offline can be found by clicking the "Download Backup" button on the login page.
The chrome extension (http://blockchain.info/wallet/chrome-extension) will also work offline in as far as allowing the export of your private keys but the correct balance and transactions will not be shown.
The chrome extension (http://blockchain.info/wallet/chrome-extension) will also work offline in as far as allowing the export of your private keys but the correct balance and transactions will not be shown.
April 23, 2013, 05:58:51 AM
Just store your private keys securely.
April 23, 2013, 05:53:49 AM
Keep a local copy of it.
Code:
wget http://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html
That's probably the best way to prepare for the future right now. Will be placing that next to my wallet backups, just in case.
April 23, 2013, 05:49:14 AM
As a end note: with some more patience I would have found this thread, which has a link to some python code that supposedly performs the decrypting.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/how-do-i-decrypt-the-blockchaininfo-email-backup-wallet-93040
It was short enough to read and verify that it doesn't seem to do anything too malevolent. Too bad I can't run it, since it reports "ImportError: No module named Crypto.Cipher". And finding out how to install python crypto modules -- well, if I had my life savings in blockchain.info's wallet, I just might have the time and patience how to do it...
But the point, I think, is that wallet backups - any wallet backups in the bitcoin ecosystem, not just those from blockchain.info - should be in a easily readable standard format, decipherable by (relatively) standard tools. If you have the password, you should be able to open them even if the original service provider hasn't been around in ages.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/how-do-i-decrypt-the-blockchaininfo-email-backup-wallet-93040
It was short enough to read and verify that it doesn't seem to do anything too malevolent. Too bad I can't run it, since it reports "ImportError: No module named Crypto.Cipher". And finding out how to install python crypto modules -- well, if I had my life savings in blockchain.info's wallet, I just might have the time and patience how to do it...
But the point, I think, is that wallet backups - any wallet backups in the bitcoin ecosystem, not just those from blockchain.info - should be in a easily readable standard format, decipherable by (relatively) standard tools. If you have the password, you should be able to open them even if the original service provider hasn't been around in ages.
April 23, 2013, 05:46:19 AM
Attempt 1: I tried blockchain.info's own decrypt tool (https://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html) before, and it worked, but in the doomsday scenario it's gone as well. Unless it used a HTML5 cache manifest and is cached on my machine. Which is not likely. FAILURE #1.
Keep a local copy of it.
Code:
wget http://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html
April 23, 2013, 05:30:11 AM
Google 'import blockchain wallet'.
Gave me this: https://multibit.org/help_importingPrivateKeys.html
Apparently multibit can also import blockchain.info's wallet - although I don't recommend storing anything significant long-term at blockchain.info.
Gave me this: https://multibit.org/help_importingPrivateKeys.html
Apparently multibit can also import blockchain.info's wallet - although I don't recommend storing anything significant long-term at blockchain.info.
April 23, 2013, 05:28:01 AM
Hi,
I just created a wallet at blockchain.info. What a nice service. And it lets me backup and download an encrypted wallet. Even saves it to Dropbox automatically. Very handy.
Now, before moving my life savings to blockchain's wallet, I decided to prepare for the doomsday scenario: assume that blockchain.info suddenly disappears from Internet and I have an urgent need for my bitcoins. I have my wallet backups, and I know my password. Now how would I recover my private keys?
Attempt 1: I tried blockchain.info's own decrypt tool (https://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html) before, and it worked, but in the doomsday scenario it's gone as well. Unless it used a HTML5 cache manifest and is cached on my machine. Which is not likely. FAILURE #1.
Attempt 2: I recall that an alternative Bitcoin client could import blockchain.info wallet backups. So I google up "alternative bitcoin clients" and try the first one that I find, MultiBit. It does have the option to import my backup, nice. I choose the file, enter my password, click "Unlock"... Nothing happens. I click "Unlock" again. Nothing happens again. Either the software is buggy as hell, or the encryption format has been changed, or possibly it's just a trojan that just posted my password all over the internet. Anyway, FAILURE #2.
Attempt 3: I recall that the wallet was AES encrypted, and the filename being ".aes.json" supports that theory. Now I happen to be lucky enough to know that there's a tool called openssl that I can use to decrypt files, and I happen to have it installed as well.
I google "decrypt aes openssl", and the first hit gives me an example of decrypting an AES-encrypted file. I'm also lucky to know what a base64-encoded file looks like, and the backup definitely seems like one. So this should do:
I change the filename to "wallet.aes.json" and try that.
Uh, ok? Now could it be some other AES than this aes-256-cbc? Let's try all of them, conveniently listed on the same page: aes-128-cbc, aes-128-ecb, aes-192-cbc, aes-192-ecb, aes-256-cbc, aes-256-ecb.
Nope, none of them work. Could be that some other cipher would work. Or it might not. FAILURE #3.
I conclude that while blockchain.info is a nice service, it's not ready for prime time until there is an easy way to actually access your backups while the site is down (which, apart from the obvious risk of a warhead or an asteroid hitting the server, happens occasionally because of a regular DDOS). Perhaps the backups should come with instructions on how to decrypt them?
I just created a wallet at blockchain.info. What a nice service. And it lets me backup and download an encrypted wallet. Even saves it to Dropbox automatically. Very handy.
Now, before moving my life savings to blockchain's wallet, I decided to prepare for the doomsday scenario: assume that blockchain.info suddenly disappears from Internet and I have an urgent need for my bitcoins. I have my wallet backups, and I know my password. Now how would I recover my private keys?
Attempt 1: I tried blockchain.info's own decrypt tool (https://blockchain.info/DecryptWallet.html) before, and it worked, but in the doomsday scenario it's gone as well. Unless it used a HTML5 cache manifest and is cached on my machine. Which is not likely. FAILURE #1.
Attempt 2: I recall that an alternative Bitcoin client could import blockchain.info wallet backups. So I google up "alternative bitcoin clients" and try the first one that I find, MultiBit. It does have the option to import my backup, nice. I choose the file, enter my password, click "Unlock"... Nothing happens. I click "Unlock" again. Nothing happens again. Either the software is buggy as hell, or the encryption format has been changed, or possibly it's just a trojan that just posted my password all over the internet. Anyway, FAILURE #2.
Attempt 3: I recall that the wallet was AES encrypted, and the filename being ".aes.json" supports that theory. Now I happen to be lucky enough to know that there's a tool called openssl that I can use to decrypt files, and I happen to have it installed as well.
I google "decrypt aes openssl", and the first hit gives me an example of decrypting an AES-encrypted file. I'm also lucky to know what a base64-encoded file looks like, and the backup definitely seems like one. So this should do:
Quote
# decrypt base64-encoded version
openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -a -in file.enc
openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -a -in file.enc
I change the filename to "wallet.aes.json" and try that.
Quote
% openssl enc -d -aes-256-cbc -a -in wallet.aes.json
enter aes-256-cbc decryption password:
error reading input file
enter aes-256-cbc decryption password:
error reading input file
Uh, ok? Now could it be some other AES than this aes-256-cbc? Let's try all of them, conveniently listed on the same page: aes-128-cbc, aes-128-ecb, aes-192-cbc, aes-192-ecb, aes-256-cbc, aes-256-ecb.
Nope, none of them work. Could be that some other cipher would work. Or it might not. FAILURE #3.
I conclude that while blockchain.info is a nice service, it's not ready for prime time until there is an easy way to actually access your backups while the site is down (which, apart from the obvious risk of a warhead or an asteroid hitting the server, happens occasionally because of a regular DDOS). Perhaps the backups should come with instructions on how to decrypt them?
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