The Code Even the CIA Can't Crack

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_kryptos

by mlLK • 17 years ago

61 21 17 years ago

The reason the code's not broken - because the CIA don't need it broken. This is what happens when the CIA needs a code broken: http://xkcd.com/538/

zandorg• 17 years ago

What I can't crack is how this ended up in Wired magazine twice!

kqr2• 17 years ago

If it used a one time pad properly, it's in theory uncrackable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_time_pad

If the key is truly random, never reused in whole or part, and kept secret, the one-time pad provides perfect secrecy

mpk• 17 years ago

The idea of the project is that it's supposed to be crack-able. So a OTP is probably out. Otherwise K4 is just random noise and not an obscure puzzle.

falsestprophet• 17 years ago

Or if he made a mistake (because he has no idea what he is doing), it is uncrackable.

kirubakaran• 17 years ago

When I was a kid, I had this idea that I was excited about, that I'll write meaningless codes in pieces of paper and strategically place them to drive people who try to figure out crazy. People just didn't care.

nickb• 17 years ago

That's because CIA sucks at cryptanalysis. NSA on the other hand...

jedc• 17 years ago

I've heard the NSA's got a computer or two that work reasonably well on stuff like this...

tptacek3• 17 years ago

That's like saying the NSA's got a computer or two that would work reasonably well at solving the Saturday New York Times Crossword Puzzle. I'm sure they do.

tptacek3• 17 years ago

Oh god please make it stop.

Kryptos : Cryptography :: Astrology : Astronomy.

Gompers• 17 years ago

"Sanborn [the artist] named his proposal after the Greek word for hidden."

tptacek3• 17 years ago

It's not Sanborn's fault, I know.

jibiki• 17 years ago

The last part is probably a Tara Ploughman quote.

knightinblue2• 17 years ago

If anyone ever decides to make a list of the top 10 perfect examples for an HN article, put this on there.

Tichy2• 17 years ago

Why? I don't think I learned anything from that article. Trying to decode an artists random encoding seems like a huge waste of time to me.

knightinblue2• 17 years ago

Of course. If it seems like a huge waste of time to you, then is must be the same for everyone else as well.

First, Sanborn didn't create a random encoding. He worked with a renowned CIA cryptologist to come up with this, so there's a rhyme and reason.

Second, it's the idea of it all, the effort it takes to break a code and figure out its innards. To me, that counts as one of the perfect examples of hackerdom.

carterschonwald• 17 years ago

Maybe the entropy/ structure ratio for the last block of stuff is such that there are multiple valid looking decryptions?

rrhyne• 17 years ago

I bet it's gibberish, like the artist was giving the spooks something to work on besides world domination once in a while.

otto• 17 years ago

The artist has done other sculptures that have been solved, and the first 3 parts have been solved. So I doubt it is gibberish.

If you are interested you might check out Elonka's website: http://elonka.com/kryptos/

She's given talks all over the country on Kryptos.

demallien• 17 years ago

Well, if Yahoo ever decides that a strategy for distracting Google is needed, we now know how. Plop one of these down out the front of Google in the middle of the night. By mid-afternoon the next day, the Googleplex will no longer be functioning :-)

http://xkcd.com/356/

The Code Even the CIA Can't Crack

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