Next Steps For Hexadecimal Code

Well, sorry for the long delay, folks.  I was hoping we'd make some headway within a couple of weeks and I could update the blog, but as of yet . . . nothing.  Our new code (check the post prior to this one for a full look at that) is a hexidecimal code, and the primary challenge is finding out how it is meant to be applied and then doing so.  It's not as straightforward as the SECOM cipher for the simple reason that there are multiple ways it can be implemented, the least of which is a direct cascading cipher or similar method.  Seeing how we've been focusing primarily on standard ciphers throughout this ARG, it's a safe bet that we will continue in a similar fashion.  However, the way the first portion of this code was cracked leads me to believe it is another language related to programming rather than a direct cipher.

For now, I will continue to keep a lookout for new ideas, and want to remind you all to keep active as best you can.  I understand there is a lot to be done over the holidays, so no rush or anything.  I do, however, want to stress how important it is to keep this ARG alive, and remember that we've come to a brick wall before.  And, after that was finally scaled, we knocked down multiple ciphers in rapid-fire succession.  That said, don't give up!

To those of you celebrating Thanksgiving, happy wishes to all of you and yours!

Where We Stand Now

It's been a crazy past few days--lots going on in regards to the ARG.  First and foremost, I want to thank all of you who have put forth the effort and decoded these ciphers at a rapid-fire pace.  Since the one-time pad cipher, we've received another major code.  Referenced in the one-time cipher as the HALOS file, the HALOS.txt file was discovered on Stormseeker's website [NOTE:  To access this link, you will need to input "drhorn" as the username and "1001085139140914" as the password].

As of now, the HALOS.txt file has been decrypted . . . mostly.  The decrypted .txt file reads:

[[Proxyhost@-84-9-123-345.dslgb.com//closed.proxy.accepted//?OTR,3,4,?OTR:[INCOMING TRANSMISSION CLASSIFIED SOURCE]SUBJECT ANALYSIS - TENACIOUS. SITE OFFLINE.........{Primary Servers Overloaded}... USER ACTIVATION REQUIRED... PASSCODE INPUT FOR SITE ACTIVATION REQUIRED...SET FOR FINAL TEST PATTERN....ANALYSIS COMPLETE>>> [CLASSIFIED INFORMATION LEVEL 8][OTR//4.0]b32b003a35badd66577c24c14fc919064346d131a7c54bb82ffe03e022615777247
923dc21f62cd4182e91c3b267b545abcaedaf0261510d4eea1e87cd33c7c77131309cc4280eb42
43d1154f044f9cf6296d9bff7397e4390987fe63203da0de40278b3a54f5ddc6975fa04f749849e1
a62595a9f630b0795913de0153e3aac388c45fb9d850cfe913541d6c08398f2c88332a82fdf0028
1d62fcdc4fe7e46ae90c51c5c806b41164e33ab92c96862e068b0c16c09990b8381a00da7915b6
7fe4a20f599b0f1b6d481913c7b9538cee639144f41561ba92e4fe751d1e242cd88f51d69551988
7136a7c15aabd7b40044922014130a91f170f66ccb3c139463a7e909a37aa863fb27805fc9731c
09c8c79067e79930a406546b24c9a629b26c2ce2a4be48f589a375feb731fc4ab225c11848cf89e
291fb27133970c063618474a892801edd68f54698c5e5b506746f6765a6f7f1225dea4da1140feb
60f650745241c693695883dcb21e6fbfefbb85a2991948036a52b5d[/][End Transmission]|¬[ABORTIVE.] ~~ [Transmission Ends]]

The part of most interest is the part I've highlighted.  This is obviously hexadecimal, but how is it converted?  My theory is that it is some sort of image--a very, very basic image, of course, but an image nonetheless.  There is also some speculation that it is related to off-the record encoding, although all of the messages to this point have referenced OTR.

So, that is where we stand.

As for the blog, I'm going to put up a poll related to the entirety rather than each individual piece (at least for now), and will be removing the Cipher Formats page.  I'm doing the latter because we've gotten past the roadblock that was the SECOM cipher, and as of now we haven't seen any reversed or columnated text.  That said, it's rather pointless.  Should the need arise, however, I will of course implement the page again, or something similar.

I will also be implementing a rating widget that will allow each of you to rate your experience with the ARG.  Although it doesn't directly impact the ARG in any way, I am curious to see how each of you feels about the progress, difficulty, etc.  

IRC Code Solved

Just a few hours after my last post, the IRC code was solved.  Turns out it WAS a one-time pad, and the input the cipher was based on is a quote by Giordano Bruno:

"It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."

And the message, decoded by pointless:

This is a message left for Dr. Horn. Just to remind you in case of emergencies that the password to the HALOS files is BENALOHPAILLIER. I have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases. You should bring pizzas.

Therefore, we have the password and a potential username.  Now all that's left to do is discover how to get into the BMRF site or find another related site . . . .

Analysis of IRC Code / Small Update

I've updated the Cipher Formats page to include the new IRC code and have added a new poll to the right-hand side toolbar.

In regard to the code, I've done an analysis in my cryptology tool--the top ten choices are as follows, listed in order from most similar to least similar:

Running Key...........0
Digrafid................1
Vig Slidefair...........2
Nicodemus.............3
Trifid...................3
Gronsfeld..............3
Vigenere...............4
Quagmire2.............4
Quagmire3.............4
Portax..................4

Of course, it's entirely possible that this analysis is inaccurate if the code is actually composed of two ciphers rather than just one.

The Next Roadblock

Since solving the Code D SECOM cipher, I've noticed two things.  First and foremost, the explosion of people posting on the forums and once again becoming active in the ARG.  For me, that is a great thing to see, and is as encouraging as it is helpful.  The second thing I've noticed is the growing complexity of the puzzles.  Granted, the time taken to complete them is nothing compared to the time it took to complete the SECOM cipher, but I feel like that was due to the anonymity of that cipher and the reality that not that many folks were working on it.  Looking at the two others that have been solved, the triangle converted to binary is actually a pretty clever ruse.  Personally, I printed the damn thing out and spent an hour at work trying to figure out how to fold it to create a message.  We can thank bobsayshilol from the forums for suggesting a binary conversion, and pointless for extending the use of binary and coming up with a solution.  Therefore, despite how quickly it was solved, that was a pretty complex puzzle that definitely required thinking outside the proverbial box.

The second puzzle, the IRC chat, was Navajo Code, and it wasn't particularly challenging.  However, now that we've come to the third "new" puzzle, the second IRC chat code, I'm noting a trend.  The message, after Base 64 decoding, is as follows:

INCOMING TRANSMISSION UNKNOWN SOURCE] LEAK SOURCE DETECTED.  TRIANGULATING . . . MIX CASCADE HOP DETECTED . . . ATTEMPTING TIMING ATTACK . . . [TERMINATED]  CANNOT CONNECT TO HOST . . . ATTEMPTING CONNECT TO USER H . . . SENDING DATA.  SECURITY LEVEL 7 ALPHA.

BAQKX  JOAJG  XAHED  IFGIZ  FZDPB  USXLG  GXHFA  UAUWM  HBQAM  WAXVY  LQQRY  WRUWV  ETQOK  BACBE  JWHMS  HVONZ  IAHPA  SOWCM  LGATX  UEXOQ  DRQEJ  BVLBO  DJIHE  CZTHM  ZKHIE  NOMLS  AXVVW  ETWIS  ETIGM  RXEVF  QYAUB  VFCEB  PWBUK  EMNOL W

 The first thing I noticed in this message was the mention of "mix cascade" which, to me, signifies that this cipher may be a variant of a cascade cipher.  If that's the case, we may be in for the long haul on this one.  Depending on the ciphers used, that could require a lot of time and determination.

Considering this realization, I will be updating the Cipher Formats page to reflect this new cipher--it will be listed in regular format, without the spaces, and backward.  In this case, and after how the Code D cipher was cracked, I don't feel the columnated format will be much  use.  Furthermore, depending on how much time this cipher takes to solve, I intend to include descriptions of the ciphers that it could end up utilizing.

Till then, hope you all have fun attempting the new cipher, and I'm glad to see past (and new) faces attempting to solve the ARG.

The Enigma Cipher (Code D) Solution

At last, the Enigma Cipher has been solved, and it has turned out to be Code D.  So what are the steps I took to solve it?  Well, not very many, actually.  It turns out that it was a SECOM cipher, which I pretty much figured out from collaborating with Code_ from the IRC channel.  He also pointed me to a very valuable site that had a lot of working decoders and other resources:  Dropbox resources

After downloading the SECOM cipher, the use of which had pretty much been extra verified by Storm's response to the "wibble" inquiry, it was a matter of plugging in possible 20-character key phrases.  Took a look at the whiteboards, searching for inputs, and it just happened that "Laser Optronic Linear Inducer Cannon" (LOL Cannon) worked.

The resulting message:

"IT HAS COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT RESEARCH INTO POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE BRIDGING METHODS MAY BE SUPPORTED BY THE INCLUSION AND APPLICATION OF THE LASER OPTRONIC LINEAR INDUCER ARRAY TO ACT AS AN AXIS MODULATOR FOR REGULATION AND FOCUSING AN UNKNOWN ENERGY FORM WAS DETECTED WHILST INVESTIGATING THIS HYPOTHESIS PLEASE USE CODE D 0914 TO COMPLETE THE SEQUENCE ON MY SITE"

The beginning is very similar to the first internet clue we got from the Konami code input on Storm's website.

After determining the four codes, I went back to the "thestormseeker.com/thepizzaisalie" page and input "drhorn" as the username and the four codes in order "1001085139140914" as the password, and lo' and behold it got me into the webpage.  It shows the parent directory, which is Storm's profile facade page, but it also links to two other files:

http://thestormseeker.com/thepizzaisalie/1001085139140914.html
http://thestormseeker.com/thepizzaisalie/grilledpizza.jpg

All said and done, I think it's safe to say that we can move on from the QE chapter and begin to focus our efforts on this new clue and how it relates to the greater story of the ARG.

I want to congratulate all of those who have worked so hard on this ARG thus far, and want to encourage everyone to continue doing so.  We hit a brick wall for a while, but through dedication and digging the end result is success; and that, truly, is what it's all about.  Each and every thought someone presented on the forums, wiki, or blog has led to this, and everyone should be proud.

The mushy stuff over with, let's press on to the next challenge!  And yeah . . . it looks like a doozy . . . .