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jakeXT

(10,575 posts)
Mon Nov 25, 2013, 03:08 PM Nov 2013

The internet mystery that has the world baffled

For the past two years, a mysterious online organisation has been setting the world's finest code-breakers a series of seemingly unsolveable problems. But to what end? Welcome to the world of Cicada 3301

One evening in January last year, Joel Eriksson, a 34-year-old computer analyst from Uppsala in Sweden, was trawling the web, looking for distraction, when he came across a message on an internet forum. The message was in stark white type, against a black background.

“Hello,” it said. “We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test. There is a message hidden in this image. Find it, and it will lead you on the road to finding us. We look forward to meeting the few that will make it all the way through. Good luck.”

The message was signed: "3301”.

A self-confessed IT security "freak” and a skilled cryptographer, Eriksson’s interest was immediately piqued. This was – he knew – an example of digital steganography: the concealment of secret information within a digital file. Most often seen in conjunction with image files, a recipient who can work out the code – for example, to alter the colour of every 100th pixel – can retrieve an entirely different image from the randomised background "noise”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/10468112/The-internet-mystery-that-has-the-world-baffled.html
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The internet mystery that has the world baffled (Original Post) jakeXT Nov 2013 OP
Interesting story. n/t PoliticAverse Nov 2013 #1
wait, I cracked it! Ligyron Nov 2013 #2
Wrong! ThoughtCriminal Nov 2013 #7
Same challenge here ThoughtCriminal Nov 2013 #3
I see a sailboat... lame54 Nov 2013 #6
My God... It's Full Of Pixels... WillyT Nov 2013 #4
Super cool! nt Lucky Luciano Nov 2013 #5
Is Google hiring again? supernova Nov 2013 #8
Nerd trolling. nt bemildred Nov 2013 #9

supernova

(39,345 posts)
8. Is Google hiring again?
Tue Nov 26, 2013, 06:06 PM
Nov 2013

They've been known to put out challenging puzzles in a quest to find candidates.

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