September 18, 2018 ▸ Conspiracy, Technology

Episode 331: Cicada 3301: The Web’s Darkest Mystery

On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we take a look at one of the biggest mysteries of the internet era, the deep, impossible, mysterious puzzle called Cicada 3301. Just who wrote this strange internet puzzle (is it a game?) is unknown. Also unknown is why they did it. It involves expert level decryption and steganography as well as hacking skills, and it took considerable resources to create. Was it the NSA or CIA as a recruitment tool? Is it a band of hackers looking to expand their numbers? Is it a global banking trust or a rogue artificial intelligence? Good questions.

So, on January 4th, 2012, a simple message was posted on 4Chan. It said they were looking for highly intelligent individuals and that this was a test. It was signed simply 3301. After weeks of chat rooms and idea sharing, people started to realize this wasn’t just some random 4Chan troll, but a very complicated puzzle. To solve it, you needed hacking skills, good software, patience, the ability to translate ancien Mayan numbers, and knowledge of crazy popular culture from William Gibson to Anton Lavey.

One person who engaged in the puzzle was named Joel Erikson. He beat the puzzle, but only after 3301 pulled the solution off the net because too many people were solving it in teams, and they apparently thought this was cheating. Another was named Marcus Wanner. He allegedly beat the puzzle and was invited to join Cicada 3301 where he toiled as a coder working on a piece of software called CAKES that would release sensitive information to the world if the owner didn’t log in every 24 hours or so.

So, what did the puzzle involve, and how many layers were hidden in layers? What was The Warning, and how did it deal with a global God Brain? Who do they think is behind 3301, and how did everyone from Google to the US Navy steal their moves? How many puzzles did Cicada 3301 ultimately release? Listen, laugh, learn.

Marcus and Tekk Story: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/cicada-solving-the-webs-deepest-mystery-84394/