] This is an unofficial list of well-known unsolved codes
] and ciphers. A couple of the better-known unsolved
] ancient historical scripts are also thrown in, since they
] tend to come up during any discussion of unsolved codes.
] There has also been an attempt to sort this list by
] "fame", as defined by a loose formula involving the
] number of times that a particular cipher has been written
] about, and/or how many hits it pulls up on a
] moderately-sorted Google search.

I kept Googling, and bugging my friends and associates for a list of famous unsolved codes, but couldn't find anything I was happy with. So, I decided to make one.

This list is brand-new as of today, and hasn't yet been linked in to my site. If any of the Memestreams community would like to suggest any additions or changes, I'm listening!

Elonka :)

Elonka's List of Famous Unsolved Codes and Ciphers

A nice little article on building BSD ports for the Outguess and Steghide utilities.

Hiding Secrets with Steganography [Dec. 04, 2003]

This is an article in Russian that covers the cracking of the Cyrillic Projector Code. For an English translation check:

http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/mirrors/computerra.html

Russian Magazine 'Computerra' Covers Cyrillic Projector

] The Kryptos sculpture was commissioned for the CIA's New
] Headquarters Building in 1988, and dedicated in 1990. A
] common misconception is that it is composed only of the
] one "wavy screen" piece -- in actuality there are several
] pieces, and sculptor Sanborn describes them as being in
] three main sections: Courtyard Plaza (which includes the
] sculpture), Courtyard Lawn, and Entrance.

This is a webpage I've created which displays some aerial views of CIA Headquarters, in order to show the locations of the different Kryptos pieces around the CIA "campus".

The page is also a small knowledge-base of other bits and pieces that have emerged about Kryptos, including information about the related morse code messages, and the mysterious nearby engraved compass, along with links to info about two other compasses that were also created by Sanborn in the DC area. None of which, interestingly enough, seem to point north . . .

Elonka :)

Kryptos - The Bird's Eye View

I'll be interviewed on a drive-time talkradio show on Monday, October 13, 2003, at 8:20 a.m. Central. The interviewer will be author / ex-CNN reporter / occasionally controversial Charles Jaco.

For anyone that wants to get up that early to listen to the 10-minute live segment, you can get the webcast by registering and installing a (free) app from the below link.

I'll also do my best to get a digital version of the show uploaded to my site afterwards, which I'll meme for those who wish to do their listening at a more "civilized" hour (grin).

Elonka :)

Cyrillic Projector on the Radio, 10/13/2003

] The "Cyrillic Projector" is just one of a number of code-bearing
] sculptures created by artist James Sanborn. The most famous,
] Kryptos, made front-page headlines in 1999 when code-breakers
] deciphered three-quarters of the secret message in the stone and
] metal sculpture. The last part, however, is still uncracked.

For those who aren't AAAS members, I also have a mirror page of the Science Magazine article here:

 http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/mirrors/ScienceMagazine.html

(subscription reqd) Science Magazine - Cryptic Sculpture Cracked

] After a decade, the mystery revolving around the Cyrillic
] Projector, located in the area between the Fretwell and
] Friday buildings, has been solved by an international
] group of cryptographers, the Kryptos Group.

This is from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte campus newspaper.

NinerOnline.com - Campus mystery solved

The University of Maryland has named the Cyrillic Projector and its solution as "Lesson 4" in one of their Fall cryptography courses.

University of Maryland - Cyrillic Projector Studies

] An international group of cryptographers, the Kryptos
] Group, announced this week that the decade-old Cyrillic
] Projector Code has been cracked, and that it deciphers to
] some classified KGB instructions and correspondence.
]
] The Cyrillic Projector is an encrypted sculpture at the
] University of North Carolina in Charlotte, that was
] created by Washington DC artist James Sanborn in the
] early 1990s. It was inspired by the encrypted Kryptos
] sculpture that Sanborn created two years earlier for CIA
] Headquarters.
]
] The message on the Cyrillic Projector has turned out to
] be in two parts. The decrypted first part is a Russian
] text encouraging secret agents to psychologically control
] potential sources of information. The second part appears
] to be a partial quote from classified KGB correspondence
] about the Soviet dissident Sakharov, with concerns that
] his report to the Pugwash conference was being used by
] the Americans for an anti-Soviet agenda.

Press Release: The Cyrillic Projector Code Has Been Solved

I was reading my weblogs earlier today, and noticed this webpage linking to my Projector webpage. It claimed to have the solution technique for Sanborn's decade-old Cyrillic Projector, though it didn't have any English plaintext or any kind of contact information.

I've seen anonymous "solutions" before with no basis in reality, so treated it with skepticism at first, but, several hours and a flurry of IMs, emails, and Excel spreadsheets later, I can confirm -- somebody's cracked it! More details will be coming soon, as I try to find out *who* did it so that they can be congratulated properly, and post the full English plaintext. In the meantime, anyone who wants to see the Russian plaintext, email or IM me privately and I'll show you what I've verified so far. I need help translating!

Elonka :)

(10/11/2003 update): At the request of the original author, I have mirrored the solution page on my own site, and changed this meme's URL accordingly)

Cyrillic Projector Solution