Security by Candlelight/SBC15 Crypto Games
Security by Candlelight - Crypto Games on teh Interwebs
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Security sometimes seems like a hard and long journey But properly equipped it will be just like snapping with your fingers. I'm afraid we will not have a "Babylon Candle" to get us there but at least it will be much more fun to travel in a group and talk about the things and wonders we see along the road. A Meeting Place for Security Enthusiasts at the Metalab in Vienna
Location: The "library" at the Metalab in Vienna: Map Twitter: @MetaLabSbC |
Cicada 3301
In Jan 2012 an image with cryptic content was posted to 4chan /b/, imgur and other internet channels, most of them infamous for little control of the content and very loose interpretation of what could be accepted for a public audience.
It turned out that steganographic content was embedded in the image and soon a hunt began, with lots of speculations and conspiracy theories emerging. None was ever prooved.
We want to take look at some of the cryptographis methods and how they were broken.
Charlie one Umbra
A few months later, in Mar 2012, ominous messages were posted on spreaker.com, a web radio channel. It soon spread to (again) 4chan, this time to /x/ the board about conspiracies, paranormal activities, to reddit-sub-boards etc...
The web-casts mostly consisted of a series of numbers, spoken by a female voice. The numbers (in most cases) were encrypted messages with different crypto-algorithms and decryption keys that had to be broken by brute force, crypto-analysis, solving previous challenges or deducting keys from hints found in material referenced or provided.
Again we want to look at some of the methods and how they were broken.
Transmission Sixty Seven
Contains a SSTV encoded image:
The image is a painting (possibly flipped vertically) of Charon and Psyche.
In Greek mythology Psyche has to fullfill several tasks to regain Cupid's love. One the tasks is to retrieve a box from the underworld. Psyche has two coins to pay Charon, the ferryman of the river Styx to ensure her return.
Charon is also the name of the handler, who controls siftumbra ("the players").