Cicada 3301

[bogeyman]

Cicada 3301 is a nickname given to an organization that on three occasions has posted a set of puzzles to recruit codebreakers from the public. The first internet puzzle started on January 4, 2012 on 4chan and ran for approximately one month. A second round began one year later on January 4, 2013, and a third round following the confirmation of a fresh clue posted on Twitter on January 4, 2014. The stated intent was to recruit “intelligent individuals” by presenting a series of puzzles which were to be solved. No new puzzles were published on January 4, 2015. However, a new clue was posted on Twitter on January 5, 2016. In April 2017 a verified PGP-signed message was found: Beware false paths. Always verify PGP signature from 7A35090F. That message explicitly denies the validity of any unsigned puzzle, as recently as April 2017.
The puzzles focused heavily on data security, cryptography, steganography, internet anonymity, and surveillance.

It has been called “the most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the internet age” and is listed as one of the “top 5 eeriest, unsolved mysteries of the internet”, and much speculation exists as to its function. Many have speculated that the puzzles are a recruitment tool for the NSA, CIA, MI6, a “Masonic conspiracy” or a cyber mercenary group. Others have claimed Cicada 3301 is an alternate reality game. No company or individual has taken credit for it or attempted to monetize it, however.

https://www.theblackvault.com/documentarchive/cicada-3301/

Always seeking, always delving, always conspiring.

[ExomatrixTV]

Many have speculated that the puzzles are a recruitment tool for the NSA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency), CIA (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency), MI6 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI6), a "Masonic conspiracy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_conspiracy)" or a cyber mercenary group. Others have claimed Cicada 3301 is an Alternate Reality Game (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game). No company or individual has taken credit for it or attempted to monetize it, however.[11] (https://metro.co.uk/2013/12/16/cicada-3301-the-most-elaborate-and-mysterious-puzzle-of-the-internet-age-4229892/)

Source (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada_3301)



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[DeDukshyn]

Maybe its a modern version of a shortwave "numbers station (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station)"? (which are interestingly still in use BTW - interestingly enough).

[RogeRio]

as Hollywood say in fiction, any resemblance is purely coincidental:


A nine-year-old autistic savant named Simon Lynch (Miko Hughes) is given an adult puzzle book by his teacher, and deciphers a phone number in a numerical puzzle. It was published in the magazine by two National Security Agency code creators, Dean Crandell and Leo Pedranski, to see if anyone could decipher it. The code, called "Mercury", is allegedly so complex that its creators believed no computer on Earth could decipher it. Simon phones the number and the NSA division chief, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Kudrow (Alec Baldwin) realises that the boy's ability to decipher the code is a grave liability; he dispatches two assassins, Peter Burrell and Shayes, to terminate the boy and his parents, Martin and Jenny Lynch.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a8/Mercuryrisingposter.jpg/220px-Mercuryrisingposter.jpg

[yelik]

Interesting but puzzling to me !


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0z03ntMJio&

[Inversion]

AJ from the Why Files covered this topic recently. The participants that took part in the game only wanted to solve puzzles because of the enjoyment and a dopamine release. Apparently, the source failed to realize that. This isn't in the video, but Miles Johnston from The Bases Project (https://www.youtube.com/@thebasesproject-censored2004/featured) mentioned an AI called ADA (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?118713-AI-Controlled-Sim-Gearing&p=1500923&viewfull=1#post1500923) which is Pi (https://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?119255-Brought-To-You-By-Pfizer--Owning-US-American-News-Networks--&p=1512253&viewfull=1#post1512253)/141 in simple gematria (https://www.gematrix.org/?word=ada). If you convert the second C in Cicada to a three it's 3.141. Unfortunately, that video disappeared.

Cicada 3301 (https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/what-is-cicada-3301/)

Number Empire (https://www.numberempire.com/3301) (3301 is a prime)

link (https://www.progresslifeline.org.uk/news/the-benefit-of-puzzles-for-the-brain#:~:text=Working%20on%20a%20puzzle%20reinforces,to%20improve%20short%2Dterm%20memory.&text=Puzzles%20increase%20the%20production%20of,as%20we%20solve%20the%20puzzle.)

Working on a puzzle reinforces connections between brain cells, improves mental speed and is an effective way to improve short-term memory. Puzzles increase the production of dopamine, a chemical that regulates mood, memory, and concentration. Dopamine is released with every success as we solve the puzzle.Jan 27, 2023


Ada (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)) was originally designed by a team led by French computer scientist Jean Ichbiah of Honeywell under contract to the United States Department of Defense (DoD) from 1977 to 1983 to supersede over 450 programming languages used by the DoD at that time.[15] Ada was named after Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), who has been credited as the first computer programmer.[16]


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZfKfkuYwyM

1,333,458 views Premiered Aug 17, 2023 The Why Files: Operation Podcast
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Solving Cicada 3301: Decoding the Internet's Greatest Mystery

Early in the morning of January 4th 2012, a strange message appeared on the internet. Just a few lines of text on an image, posted anonymously.

Hello. 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.

3301

Many speculated that it was a recruiting tool for the NSA, CIA, MI6, or even the Masons.

But who was really behind it, and what was its purpose? Did it even have a purpose?

Whether it did or not, it didn’t matter. Because when you post a puzzle on the internet looking for “highly intelligent people”, that’s a challenge that’s simply impossible to resist.

So, the hunt for Cicada 3301 was on.