What comes to mind when we hear the term “Cicada”? Probably the answer will be the insect cicada. But if we put the number “3301” behind the cicada term then it becomes the most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the internet age the world has ever seen.”CICADA 3301” is an internet puzzle that was posted by someone for the world to decipher it. The Washington Post ranked it as one of the “top 5 eeriest, unsolved mysteries of the internet.” To this day it remains a mystery who started this puzzle and what it even meant or does it actually meant something at all!
The First Appearance of Cicada
On the 4th of January, 2012, a user on 4chan posted an image to the site's infamous /b/ or random board. The anonymous author, who went by the four-digit pseudonym 3301, challenged users to uncover a message hidden within the image. Unbeknownst to those who stumbled across it, someone had just set in motion one of the most elaborate scavengers hunts the internet has ever seen.
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| This was the first puzzle image that was posted on the 4chan website |
Within minutes of the image being posted someone discovered that by opening the file using a text editor an appended string of readable text could be found. The string contained a cipher that, once deciphered, formed a link to yet another image. At first, this appeared to be a dead-end but using an application known users were able to extract hidden information embedded within the first image. The application is known as Outguess. The extracted information lead to a subreddit which in turn contained information about a book. The book along with a code could then be used to uncover a phone number that, when called, played a prerecorded audio message which said "Very good. You have done well. There are three prime numbers associated with the original final .jpg image. 3301 is one of them. You will have to find the other two. Multiply all three of these numbers together and add a .com on the end to find the next step. Good luck. Good-bye."
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| This was the image which was thought to be dead-end but then an embedded message was found in it after running through the application Outguess |
By the following day, the initial image had been reposted all over the internet. A growing community of armchair detectives sought to unravel this elaborate puzzle but no one was quite sure what to make off it. The two missing numbers mentioned in the recording proved to be the dimensions of the original image. After multiplying the width and height with 3301 and using the product as a web address, users were taken to a website. The website consisted of a countdown as well as an image of a cicada. When the countdown reached zero, the page was updated with a list of coordinates. The coordinates pointed to locations around the globe. 14 locations in 5 different countries. It was now up to participants living near the specified coordinates to rise from their comfortable armchairs and venture outside.
Those who believed Cicada to be the work of an organization now felt their beliefs had been justified. In their opinion, only some international collective possessed the means and resources to create a scavenger hunt of this magnitude. This was not the work of your average troll. No, this had to be something else. At each location was a poster with the cicada symbol and a QR code.
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| One of the QR code posters found at a location. |
The QR codes linked to an image, the image contained a riddle, the riddle lead to a book, and the book lead to a website. But here, the puzzle took an unexpected turn. Only a select group of first arrivals to that website were accepted into the final stage of the puzzle. The site eventually closed down with the message: "We want the best, not the followers." The finalists were also warned not to collaborate with others nor to share the details of this private stage of the puzzle.
After nearly a month of silence, an image appeared on the subreddit announcing the conclusion of the puzzle, and just like that, the hunt was over. Cicada had supposedly found the "highly intelligent individuals". The lack of an explanation was perceived by many as confirmation that the puzzle had been nothing but a wild-goose chase intent on wasting everyone’s time. After all, questions raised by the original image remained unanswered. What was the puzzle for? Who was behind it? What happens when you reach the end? However, as it later turned out, this was just the beginning.
The Second Appearance of Cicada
Whoever was behind this intricate game had the foresight to include an authentication code known as a PGP signature along with every clue. This allowed users to verify that an image or message was actually from Cicada as opposed to some impostor seeking to derail or hijack the puzzle. Cicada had repeatedly warned of such "false paths" and insisted that any message lacking a valid PGP signature should promptly be disregarded. That's why an image, posted exactly a year and a day after the first, provoked a mass frenzy.
After a year of lackluster imitations, that image finally matched the official PGP signature. Cicada was back and it was time for round two. The second puzzle was not too dissimilar from the first. The image enclosed a message, the message lead to a book, the book produced a link, and gradually the puzzle unfolded. At one point, a recording titled The Instar Emergence was uncovered. Another clue lead to a cryptic Twitter account which then lead to an image. The image proved vital to the progression of the puzzle but the inclusion of this runic alphabet would remain a mystery for quite some time.
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| Some of the locations where the posters were found |
Much like the first puzzle the second swelled into the physical world when a list coordinates compelled participants to, once again, take to the streets in search of enigmatic posters. This time it was 8 locations in 4 different countries. But eventually, the trail went cold once again. Another select group of first arrivals had been accepted into a final private stage of the puzzle. Unlike the first puzzle, the second did not conclude with an official message from Cicada. The trail merely went cold and Cicada vanished once more leaving us no closer to an explanation. However, this was still not the end.
The Third Appearance of Cicada
At the beginning of 2014, it was time for round three. Once again the image enclosed a message, the message lead to a book, the book produced a link, and suffice it to say, it was more of the same. Except, this time, the puzzle seemed to revolve around a strange book.
The book was titled Liber Primus, meaning First Book in Latin, and was evidently written by Cicada. The runic alphabet uncovered in 2013 finally made sense as the book was primarily written in runes. Even so, the meaning of the translated pages were cryptic at best.
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| One of the pages from the book Liber Primus written in cryptic runes |
The book consisted of various philosophical and ideological ideas and appeared to be their manifesto. Many have since compared the strange writings to that of a cult. Nevertheless, the book also comprised a myriad of clues and codes. For example, this page advised participants to seek out a website on the deep web but the site remains undiscovered. Another page lead to a website containing yet another recording titled Interconnectedness. However, a significant portion of the book has yet to be translated. The runic text on some of the pages appear to be obfuscated by layers of encryption that has yet to be decrypted. Of the 74 pages featuring runes, only 19 have been successfully translated.
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| A translated page from the book |
As 2015 came and went without the launch of a new puzzle, many came to suspect the Liber Primus had to be completed if Cicada was to return. This was more or less confirmed at the beginning of 2016 when Cicada encouraged a reexamination of the book. In 2017 there was the last message from Cicada matching with the authentic PGP signature. The message was "Beware false paths. Always verify PGP signature from 7A35090F. 3301". More than three years have passed by after 2017 with minimal progress and near-complete silence from Cicada. Questions raised by the original image have gone ignored. What is the purpose of these puzzles? Who's behind them? What happens when you reach the end?
Conclusion
When the initial image appeared on 4chan back in 2012 many assumed Cicada 3301 to be an alternate reality game designed by a corporation to promote a new service or product. But the release of subsequent puzzles and the complete lack of commercialization has more or less eliminated that possibility. Moreover, people believed the puzzle to be an employment technique devised by government secret agencies but no such agencies came forward accepting that proposition. In regards to who or what Cicada is, some people believe they could be a remnant of the cypherpunk movement of the late 80s and 90s. Essentially a small group of activists advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies.
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| Microsoft did something similar like Cicada to promote their game Halo |
At the end of the first puzzle, finalists supposedly received an email. In it, Cicada described themselves as an international group who believe that privacy is an inalienable right. The aim of each puzzle is to recruit like-minded individuals in an effort to develop privacy-conscious solutions.
In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, two alleged winners of the first puzzle chronicled the events beyond the final stage. After receiving an email from Cicada they were taken to a forum on the dark web. There, they could communicate with some twenty-odd recruits as well as a handful of established members of Cicada. They were told that Cicada 3301 had been founded by a group of friends who shared common ideals about security, privacy, and censorship. The goal was to work as a collective to develop software applications in line with that ideology. As friends recruited friends, this secret society quickly expanded into a decentralized international organization. The recruits were then tasked with developing software that fit the ideology of the group and members of Cicada would oversee their progress.
But without the allure of a puzzle to be solved, the recruits quickly lost interest. By the end of 2012, almost everyone left the group. A few months later the site was gone too. They never heard from Cicada again.
Current Scenario
One of the winners of the first puzzle was Marcus Wanner. A person pseudo-named Nox Populi was also a winner of the second puzzle. Some other winners were Onecool, Brother Box, and Shadow Walker. These five people are those notable among the persons who are trying to encrypt the hidden message behind the book Liber Primus. They have deciphered some pages of the book but are far away from solving it as a whole. Many believe that solving this book is the key to the next phase of the Cicada puzzle. But as for now this a far-sighted target. There is only the hope to solve one day the most mysterious puzzle of the internet the world has ever seen.
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