Article content

Using multiple computers around the clock, Ottawa police have been trying to crack an Algonquin College student’s laptop password for more than a year, and have now been granted a 12-month extension to see if they can finally break the code.

The computer technician student is a suspect in a child-pornography investigation and was arrested in the college parking lot on Feb. 4, 2014 — the same day authorities seized his laptop, thumb drive and iPhone from his backpack.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ottawa police get another year to crack Algonquin student's password Back to video

The police didn’t find any child pornography on his phone or thumb drive, but they still don’t know about the laptop because the police department has been unable to crack the student’s 26-digit alphanumeric password. In a police interview on the day he was arrested, the student refused to reveal his password and the police have been trying to crack it ever since.

Not for lack of trying. In fact, in his March 24 ruling to let the police keep working on the laptop for another year, Superior Court Justice Julianne Parfett said, “The evidence before me indicates that multiple computers have been working 24/7 to unravel the password, but it has yet to happen.”