Cicada 3301 is the name given to eight sets of

puzzle A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are differe ...

s posted under the name "3301" online between 2012 and 2014. The first puzzle started on January 4, 2012, on

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from video games and television to literature, cooking, weapons, mu ...

and ran for nearly a month. A second round of puzzles began one year later on January 4, 2013, and then a third round following the confirmation of a fresh clue posted on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

on January 4, 2014. The third puzzle remains unsolved. The stated intent was to recruit "intelligent individuals" by presenting a series of puzzles to be solved; no new puzzles were published on January 4, 2015. A new clue was posted on Twitter on January 5, 2016. Cicada 3301 posted their last verified

OpenPGP Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is an encryption program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting texts, e-mails, files, directories, and whole disk partit ...

-signed message in April 2017, denying the validity of any unsigned puzzle. The puzzles focused heavily on

data security Data security or data protection means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users, such as a cyberattack or a data breach. Technologies Disk encryption ...

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

steganography Steganography ( ) is the practice of representing information within another message or physical object, in such a manner that the presence of the concealed information would not be evident to an unsuspecting person's examination. In computing/ ...

, and

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

anonymity Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Anonymity may be created unintentionally through the loss of identifying information due to the passage of time or a destructive event, or intentionally if a person cho ...

. 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" by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and much speculation exists as to its function. Many have speculated that the puzzles are a recruitment tool for the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

, a " Masonic conspiracy", or a cyber mercenary group. Others have stated Cicada 3301 is an

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by int ...

, although no company or individual has attempted to monetize it.

Purpose

The stated purpose of the puzzles each year was to recruit "highly intelligent individuals", although the ultimate purpose remains unknown. Theories have included claims that Cicada 3301 is a secret society with the goal of improving

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

, and

or that it is a cult or religion. According to statements of several people who won the 2012 puzzle, 3301 typically uses non-puzzle-based recruiting methods, but created the Cicada puzzles because they were looking for potential members with cryptography and computer security skills.

Resolution

The first puzzle, of 2013, was solved by Marcus Wanner. According to him, those who solved the puzzles were asked questions about their support of information freedom, online privacy and freedom, and rejection of censorship. Those who answered satisfactorily at this stage were invited to a private forum, where they were instructed to devise and complete a project intended to further the ideals of the group. He did not finish his work on a method of general decryption and the website was removed.

Types of clues

The Cicada 3301 clues spanned many different forms of communication media, including but not limited to the Internet, telephone, original music, bootable

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

CDs,

digital image A digital image is an image composed of picture elements, also known as pixels, each with '' finite'', '' discrete quantities'' of numeric representation for its intensity or gray level that is an output from its two-dimensional functions f ...

s, physical paper signs, and pages of unpublished cryptic books written in runes. In total, there were two pieces of music, titled "The Instar Emergence" and "Interconnectedness", accompanying the Cicada clues. However, neither of them were part of a standard repertoire, and neither the composers nor performers have been identified. Cicada 3301 also wrote a book, titled ''Liber Primus'' (Latin for ''First Book''), which contains many pages, only some of which have been decrypted. In addition to using many varying techniques to encrypt, encode, or hide data, these clues also referenced a wide variety of books, poetry, artwork, and music. Each clue was signed by the same

private key to confirm authenticity.

Allegations of illegal activity

Authorities from the Los Andes Province of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

claimed that Cicada 3301 is a "hacker group" and engaged in illegal activities. Cicada 3301 responded to this claim by issuing a PGP-signed statement denying any involvement in illegal activity. In July 2015, a group calling themselves "3301" hacked into

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

's database; however, the group appeared to have had no association with Cicada 3301. Cicada 3301 later issued a PGP-signed statement stating they "are not associated with this group in any way" and also stated that Cicada 3301 did not "condone their use of our name, number, or symbolism". The hacker group later confirmed that they were not affiliated with Cicada 3301.

Legacy and popular culture

The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

released a cryptographic challenge based on the Cicada 3301 recruitment puzzles in 2014 calling it Project Architeuthis. The plot of "

Nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

", a 2014 episode of ''

Person of Interest "Person of interest" is a term used by law enforcement in the United States, Canada, and other countries when identifying someone possibly involved in a criminal investigation who has not been arrested or formally accused of a crime. It has no leg ...

'', featured a large-scale game very similar to the Cicada 3301 puzzles. Both feature a series of worldwide cryptographic puzzles, but as the title implies, these feature the image of a

nautilus A nautilus (; ) is any of the various species within the cephalopod family Nautilidae. This is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and the suborder Nautilina. It comprises nine living species in two genera, the type genus, ty ...

shell instead of a cicada logo. ''Person of Interest'' creator

Jonathan Nolan Jonathan Jensen Nolan (born 6 June 1976) is a British and American screenwriter and producer. He is the creator of the CBS science fiction series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016) and of the HBO science fiction/Western series ''Westworld'' ...

and producer Greg Plageman stated in an interview that Cicada 3301 was the inspiration for the episode: "Episode 2, I'm particularly fascinated by the subject underneath it. Look up Cicada 3301 on the Internet. It's a very interesting concept out there that we then put into a larger story that connects to our show". In the video game ''

Assassin's Creed Origins ''Assassin's Creed Origins'' is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the tenth major installment in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series and the successor to ''Assassin's Creed Syndicate'' (20 ...

'' released in 2017, a member of the Isu civilization references Cicada when listing off various mysteries of history. The organization is the subject of the 2021 comedy-thriller film '' Dark Web: Cicada 3301''. Directed by

Alan Ritchson Alan Michael Ritchson (born November 28, 1982) is an American actor. He made his acting debut as Aquaman / Arthur Curry on The CW superhero series ''Smallville'' (2005–2010), where he appeared as a guest star between the fifth and 10th seas ...

, who co-wrote the script with Joshua Montcalm, it stars

Jack Kesy Jack Kesy () is an American actor. On television, he has portrayed Gabriel Bolivar on the FX (TV channel), FX horror drama ''The Strain (TV series), The Strain'' (2014–2016) and Roller Husser on the TNT (American TV channel), TNT dark comedy ' ...

, Conor Leslie,

Ron Funches Ronald Kyle Funches (born March 12, 1983) is an American comedian and actor. Born in California, Funches spent his early life in Chicago before relocating to Salem, Oregon, as a teenager. He began his comedy career in Portland, Oregon, at age 23. ...

Kris Holden-Ried Kris Holden-Ried (born August 1, 1973) is a Canadian actor. Early life and pentathlon Holden-Ried was born in Pickering, Ontario. He studied at Montreal's Concordia University School of Business. He was a champion competitor in equestrianism, ri ...

, Andreas Apergis, and director Ritchson. The film follows a hacker who participates in Cicada's recruitment game while evading the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the director of national intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collection, and proces ...

(NSA). The Cicada 3301 puzzles play a major role in the

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

'' Anonymous;Code''. The Cicada 3301 puzzles have seemingly inspired another competition named Cicada Detroit focused on "decoding ciphers, cryptography and hidden messages" As of June 2024, a

ransomware Ransomware is a type of malware that Encryption, encrypts the victim's personal data until a ransom is paid. Difficult-to-trace Digital currency, digital currencies such as paysafecard or Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, cryptocurrencies are com ...

group calling themselves ''Cicada 3301'' started spreading ransomware. There is no evidence the group is affiliated with the original puzzles.

References