2 Duck decoy image | Courtesy of Imgur and Cicada 3301 Once this was run through a decoder, the list of numbers and letters turned into a URL, one that when entered into a web browser took you to a new image of a duck. The reference to Caesar indicated the use of a Caesar cipher, which means you shift a letter of the alphabet ‘down’ a certain number of spaces to get a new letter. The first clue was hidden within the picture of the initial message, and it was only revealed once the image was moved into a text-editing application, allowing the seekers to see a string of numbers and letters, which followed the words “TIBERIVS CLAVDIVS CAESAR”. The completion of the first puzzle took the erstwhile detectives on a whirlwind journey, ultimately involving various internet sites, the deep web, several different ciphers and codes, Mayan numerals, works of literature, a phone number in Texas, and several real-world locations scattered around the globe. And so cyber enthusiasts, hackers, and internet security specialists alike set off to crack the code and make it to the finish line. This was a recruitment test of some sort, meant to identify those smart enough to get all the way to the end. Initial speculations about the source behind the name at the time of the launching of the first puzzle covered a broad range of opinions, ranging from the NSA, the Illuminati, various cyber government agencies, and all the way to rogue hackers, but no one knows for sure. The true identity of the creator(s) of the puzzles remains unknown. The puzzles and their creator(s) have since become known as Cicada 3301. The first message that started it all was simply signed “3301” at the bottom. This seemingly innocuous message would go on to spark a worldwide cyber expedition to get to the bottom of the rabbit hole, a puzzle that only got more complicated and harder the deeper you went. On January 5th, 2012, a simple image of white text on a black background was posted on 4chan’s /x/ – Paranormal board, a site that hosts a place to post pictures and messages on various topics. SP 3392 – Language Variation and Dialectology of Spanishįirst message posted on 4chan by Cicada 3301 | Courtesy of 4chan.SC 3300 – Special Topics: Public Health.HS 1302 – United States History since 1877.HS 1301 – United States History to 1877.3 Post-Classical History (600 CE-1492 CE).6 Contemporary Latin America (2000-2030).1 Pre-Columbian Latin America (to 1492).4 Late Middle Ages-Renaissance-Reformation Europe (1300-1648).6 Great Depression and WWII (1929-1945).5 Emergence of Modern America (1877-1929).4 Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877).
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