[jessaustin]

...Chematica’s database is currently posted on a password protected website on the dark web. During his talk at HOPE this year, Laufer implored the audience to help with cracking the password and releasing the data into the world.

They're talking about an encrypted file, right? If Merck just had this posted on "the dark web", constantly hammering them with bad passwords would probably clue them in. Incidentally, which did Merck value more, the database or the opportunity to keep it away from this group?

[r3dk1ng]

It is an encrypted zip file. Not a password protected website. Not a rar. I downloaded it and ran file on it. Oddly the filename is .tar.

    $ file .reaxys.tar 
    .reaxys.tar: Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract

As one of the other top level comments said, the links to it are here: https://twitter.com/MichaelSLaufer/status/102263726560276889...

[zxcmx]

RAR files can be cracked offline.

[jessaustin]

Sure, but "password protected website" is a weird synonym for "RAR file".

[jsjohnst]

The RAR file was posted on a “dark web” site. The password needing to be cracked is the one on the RAR file itself, not the site.

Source: I was at the HOPE talk he gave and also talked to Michael at the conference about it too.

[nowarninglabel]

It's not saying the RAR file is that. It's saying you can only get access to the file through a password-protected website on the dark web.

[jsjohnst]

See my sibling comment. The article told the story slightly misworded.