ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTIONS
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION

-Cicada 3301 was a series of cryptographic puzzles which started with an

online post in January of 2012. The leads were renewed again in January of
2013 and 2014. Solving the puzzles often required an extensive knowledge
of
data encryption methods, mathematics, and computer programming. Many
of the clues, however, also contained elements of earlier cryptographic
meth-
ods such as Caesar squares and Vigenère ciphers.
-amateur cryptographers progressed from one clue to the next, what
began to emerge behind the veneer of riddles and ciphers was a cohesive
social, philosophical, and spiritual ideology. This was an ideology which, I
will
argue, addressed a kind of metaphysically “cyber-gnostic” notion of
selfhood,
centered around concerns regarding communication, privacy, and identity in
cyberspace and in the information age
-The first trace of the Cicada 3301 mystery appeared on January 5, 2012. An
image containing a cryptic message was posted
to the “/x/,” or “paranormal,” forum on 4chan.org, a messaging board
website When opened using a text editing software, such as Notepad, the
final line of the revealed text stated: “TIBERIVS CLAVDIVS CAESAR says
‘lxxt>33m2mqkyv2gsq3q=w]O2ntk.’” The message was an encrypted Caesar
cipher, decoded using a simple method of substituting each letter for
another of equal distance within the alphabet. Since Claudius was the fourth
Roman emperor, the key to the cipher was four. Thus, “l” would become
“h,” four letters lower down in the alphabet, whereas “x” would become
“t,” and so on. Once decrypted, the initially meaningless string of letters and
numbers provided an“http.” web link.
-many in the online community believe, 3301 is in fact a government
recruitment program, a crypto-anarchist group, or the spearhead of an
unfolding millennialist religion for the information age. Whatever the case
may be, the mystery of Cicada 3301 has certainly brought a very unique
form of experience to many otherwise unconnected individuals around the
world. The experience of being personally involved with 3301’s puzzles is
unique, precisely because it is an experience which resides on the border of
simulation and reality – fact and fiction
(Filip Andjelkovic )

It is January 5th 2013.

Around the world, hundreds – maybe thousands of 4Chan users are sitting
in front of their computers, waiting for a puzzle. They know it’s coming – or
at least they think they know it’s coming – because a similar puzzle was
waiting for them at the same 4Chan board exactly one year ago, on
January 5th 2012. And then, a message appears…but it’s not the message
they were expecting. In fact, it’s a warning.
“I was part of what you call 3301/Cicada for more than a decade, and I’m
here to warn you: stay away. This is a dangerous organization. While I
agree with many of the goals, their ways are nefarious. In fact, I think it is
like a left-hand path religion disguised as a progressive scientific
organization. I realize this is a strong statement, but I will provide important
evidence to support these claims…”
- The key the message refers to is a PGP signature. PGP stands for
Pretty Good Privacy: it is a free encryption program that encrypts
digital messages from sender to receiver with the addition of a
unique digital signature, like a fingerprint.
-
-
(Ran Levi)