16 June 1999 - http://jya.com/cia-art-jg.htm http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/06/biztech/articles/16code.html June 16, 1999 C.I.A.'s Artistic Enigma Yields All but Final Clue By JOHN MARKOFF It has stood in a courtyard inside the Central Intelligence Agency for almost a decade, a sculptural mystery inside an enigma. But last week Jim Gillogly, a Southern California computer scientist, did what has until now been done -- quietly, and incompletely -- only inside the agency's halls. He succeeded in breaking almost all of a cipher embedded in a sculpture called Kryptos -- the Greek word for "hidden" -- that was dedicated at the C.I.A. in October 1990. Since then, the 865-character message etched into the sculpture by the artist, Jim Sanborn, has defied all efforts to unravel its conundrum completely. Even Gillogly acknowledges that he has deciphered only its first 768 characters. Still unbroken are the last 97 characters, apparently the same section that has also stumped both the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency. Sanborn said this week that the sculpture contains a riddle within a riddle -- one that will be solvable only after the four encrypted passages are known. The complete answer was handed to William H. Webster, the Director of Central Intelligence when the sculpture was completed, and has been held in confidence by his successors. The tantalizing clues uncovered last week are likely to rekindle interest in a complete solution: The three sections include a poetic phrase, a reference to a point near the C.I.A.'s headquarters in Langley, Va. (with the enticing passage, "Who knows the exact location? Only WW"), and an excerpt from an account of the opening of King Tut's tomb in 1922. "I don't really have a good idea of what it might be," said Gillogly, a 53-year-old cryptographer at Mentat Inc., a Los Angeles software maker, who started designing cryptograms with his brother as a child in an effort to stump their father. A computer hacker in the best sense of the word and a past president of the American Cryptogram Association, Gillogly (pronounced gill-OH-glee) began exploring the Kryptos message in 1992, but he abandoned it until nine days ago, when he saw it briefly alluded to in an Internet discussion group. This time he was armed with a better weapon than the pencil and paper he had seven years ago: his home computer, a highly powered Pentium II. And the key to solving the first three sections of the message proved to be a program that Gillogly had written as part of his cryptographic passion. The program, he said, is intended to help solve what he refers to as classical cryptographic systems used by kings, armies and spies before World War II. Even with more computational power, he had to apply traditional cryptographic methods, using his logical powers of deduction. "There was a fair amount of skull sweat," he said. "You work on it and you see something that is a little out of whack and you start pulling on it to see what unravels." When he contacted the C.I.A's press office last week, Gillogly learned that he was not the first codebreaker to succeed at unraveling the first part of the mystery. In February, David Stein, who works for the agency as a physicist and senior analyst, and not as a professional cryptographer, had quietly uncovered the same three passages. Like Gillogly, he has been stumped by the final section, although he believes that it will eventually be solved. "The Kryptos puzzle is a layered puzzle," he said yesterday, "and we may find that it has layers within layers within layers." Stein sounded a bit miffed when he learned that Gillogly had used a computer in his pursuit of the hidden codes. "Kryptos was meant to be solved with pencil and paper," he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Related Article The Kryptos Code Unmasked (June 16, 1999) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There were no written rules in this contest, Gillogly responded, adding: "As far as I'm concerned a crack is where you find it. The choice of tool isn't the important part, but rather the decisions about how to use the tools." For his part, Webster, the former Director, said yesterday that he had long since forgotten the answer. "I have zero memory of this," he said. "It was philosophical and obscure." But he sided with Gillogly on using a computer. "Who set the rules here?" he asked. "This is precisely what the agencies do when they try to break codes." Sanborn, the artist, who has designed a number of sculptures that are puzzles, has said he believes that the ultimate secret hidden in the text of Kryptos will never be deciphered. It was designed by Edward M. Scheidt, a former chairman of the C.I.A.'s Cryptographic Center. That has not stopped either Gillogly or Stein from speculating on what the full message may contain. And Gillogly has even contemplated exploring the bag of tricks of some of the world's acknowledged past spy masters in search of the complete solution. "There're still those last few lines waiting to be decrypted," he wrote last week in an Internet discussion group. "I'll review the 'Mission Impossible' movie for tips on getting into the vault, if all else fails." Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 07:44:17 -0700 From: Jim Gillogly To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net Subject: Re: Gillogly Cracks CIA Art John Young wrote: > So, Jim, what was the message? It's in the sidebar to the article. I must say this was the best experience I've had working with a journalist -- he got everything spot-on. Only the last Q was left off of one of the plaintexts. I worked from an impressively clean transcription by Doug Gwyn, which you can find at http://www.und.nodak.edu/org/crypto/crypto/general.crypt.info/Kryptos/ Here's what I broke (typos are cut into the copper): 1. Between subtle shading and the absence of light lies the nuance of iqlusion. Keys: KRYPTOS, PALIMPSEST. 2. It was totally invisible. How's that possible? They used the earth's magnetic field. x The information was gathered and transmitted undergruund to an unknown location. x Does langley know about this? They should: it's buried out there somewhere. x Who knows the exact location? Only WW. This was his last message. x Thirty eight degrees fifty seven minutes six point five seconds north, seventy seven degrees eight minutes forty four seconds west. ID by rows. Keys: KRYPTOS, ABSCISSA 3. Slowly, desparatly slowly, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway was removed. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. And then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in. The hot air escaping from the chamber caused the flame to flicker, but presently details of the room within emerged from the mist. x Can you see anything? q Keys: three columnar transpositions. Here are the last 97 characters, which I haven't broken: OBKR UOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSO TWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYP VTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR I suspect it's running key, or combined polyalphabetic sub and transposition, or perhaps autokey. The only likely periodicity appears to be at period 25, but that may well just be chance. The lat-long in the second section are near Langley and McLean, Virginia. Perhaps some cypherpunks with GPS receivers could narrow it down a bit. ABC News thinks it's right at the spot where the sculpture sits, but I'd find that surprising given the text. The third section is adapted from Howard Carter's first-person account of opening Tutankhamun's tomb, and the response to the question was "Yes, wonderful things." Perhaps that's a crib for the last section. -- Jim Gillogly 26 Forelithe S.R. 1999, 14:29 12.19.6.5.1, 5 Imix 9 Zotz, Second Lord of Night --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.und.nodak.edu/org/crypto/crypto/general.crypt.info/Kryptos/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EMUFP HZLRF AXYUS DJKZL DKRNS HGNFI VJYQT QUXQB QVYUV LLTRE VJYQT MKYRD MFDVF PJUDE EHZWE TZYVG WHKKQ ETGFQ JNCEG GWDKK TDQMC PFQZD QMMIA GPFXH ORGLT IMVMZ JANQL VKQED AGDVF RPJUN GEUNA OZGZL ECGYU XUEEN JTBJL BQCRT BJDFH RRYIZ ETKZE MVDUF KSJHK FWHKU WQLSZ FTIHH DDDUV DWKBF UFPWN TOFIY CUQZE REEVL DKFEZ MOQQJ LTTUG SYQPF EUNLA VIDXF LGGTE Z FKZBS FDQVG OGIPU FXHHD RKFFH QNTGP UAECN UVPDJ MQCLQ UMUNE DFQEL ZZVRR GKFFV OEEXB DMVPN FQXEZ LGRED NQFMP NZGLF LPMRJ QYALM GNUVP DXVKP DQUME BEEDM DAFMJ GZNUP LGEWJ LLAET GENDY AHROH NLSRH EOCPT EOIBI DYSHN AIACH TNREY ULDSL LSLLN OHSNO SMRWX MNETP RNGAT IHNRA RPESL NNELE BLPII ACAEW MTWND ITEEN RAHCT ENEUD RETNH AEOEI FOLSE DTIWE NHAET OYTEY QHEEN CTAYC REIFT BRSPA MHHEW ENATA MATEG YEERL BIEEF OASFI OTUET UAEOT OARMA EERTN RTIBS EDDNI AAHTT MSTEW PIERO AGRIE WFEBA ECTDD HILOE IHSIT EGOEA OSDDR YDLCR ITRKL MLEHA GTDHA RDPNE OHMGF WFEUH EECDM RIPFE IMEHN LSSTT RTVDO HW OBKRU OXOGH ULBSO LIFBB WFLRV QQPRN GKSSO IWTQS JQSSE KZZWA TJKLU DXYWI NFBNY PVTTM ZFPEW GDKZX TJCDI GXXXU AUEKC AR --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This file is viewed best in a font, like courier, in which all characters are the same width. I don't remember who wrote the memo in Kryptos.txt, so I can't express my appreciation adequately. There are three files in this set: Kryptos.txt - this file, with the CIA note. CIA_clue.txt - Kryptos text with CIA separations Kryptos.bmp - a photograph of the Sanborn sculpture at CIA Headquarters The photograph is of a transparent sculpture, with the text on one side and the Vigenere table on the other. Perhaps some member of the KREWE can solve the KRYPTOS inscription and share it (and the method of solution) with the rest of us. ---------------- Anonymous memo: Recently, out of a sudden curiosity an ACA-er called CIA Public Affairs and asked if there were any insights on the Sanborn sculpture at Langley they'd care to disclose to an inquiring citizen. The woman who answered the phone said, "No, I can't say anything but, if you send me your name and address we can send you something." The ACA-er felt a tad paranoic but gave her the info and waited for the guys in the rubber- soled shoes. Instead, two days later two pages arrived in the mail which said a bit about the sculpture and gave the complete (and presumably) accurate cipher(s). There were no warnings regarding further dissemination. Since there does not seem to be ANY ACA reference giving the entire cipher, this might be information worth passing along. It seems there are no problems with ACA foreign members seeing this info as it was sent via US postal in an unclassified form. Below is the item (typed entirely). ************************************************************ Dec 1996 from: (through US postal channels) CIA Public Affairs Washington, DC 20505 phone number (703)-482-1100 they won't discuss it over the phone! just ask for "available information on KRYPTOS sculpture" -------------------------------------------------------------- SANBORN SCULPTURE The Art of Cryptography KRYPTOS, that peculiar sculpture in the court- yard area of the headquarters complex, has raised many eyebrows and questions ever since its installa- tion. Undoubtedly its most intriguing aspect is the riddle of its hidden message. What could it be? Though few persons other than the author know the answer for certain, many have contemplated the question. We would like to pass on what knowledge we have gained from our cryptanalysis regarding the message. It is probable, from analysis of the letter distribu- tion, that at least four separate systems of encryption have been employed: Digraphic, Poly-alphabetic, Transposition, and One-Time-Pad. The first of these, Digraphic substitution, is guessed to be applicable from "EMUFPH..." to "... GWHKK?". Thus method substitutes two letters for one letter, or even a whole syllable or word (e.g., JK=g, or FE=ible). The Polyalphabetic system appears to be used with the text extending from approximately "DQM- CPF..." up to "...JLLAETG". In this system, mul- tiple alphabets (we suspect four or eight) are used to substitute different letters for the same letters in the origina l text. For example, an "F" may be translated into an "R" one time, and then as an "M" another time, and as a "D" a third time. "ENDYAHR..." through "TVDOHW?" is guessed to incorporate a transposition system, also known as a permutation. This is a system in which the letters in the original message are mixed up according to a predefined rule. Often, the message is arranged into a matrix, say, reading left to right; then, the message is output reading down the colunms. (See example next page.) Perhaps a matrix system in which the length of the columns are multiples of eleven or thirteen has been used for this section of the message. |-------------------------------------| | The KRYPTOS Inscription | | | | EMUFPHZLRFAXYUSDJKZLDKRNSHGNFIVJ | | YQTQUXQBQVYUVLLTREVJYQTMKYRDMFD | | VFPJUDEEHZWETZYVGWHKKQETGFQJNCE | | GGWHKK?DQMCPFQZDQMMIAGPFXHQRLG | | TIMVMZJANQLVKQEDAGDVFRPJUNGEUNA | | QZGZLECGYUXUEENJTBJLBQCRTBJDFHRR | | YIZETKZEMVDUFKSJHKFWHKUWQLSZFTI | | HHDDDUVH?DWKBFUFPWNTDFIYCUQZERE | | EVLDKFEZMOQQJLTTUGSYQPFEUNLAVIDX | | FLGGTEZ?FKZBSFDQVGOGIPUFXHHDRKF | | FHQNTGPUAECNUVPDJMQCLQUMUNEDFQ | | ELZZVRRGKFFVOEEXBDMVPNFQXEZLGRE | | DNQFMPNZGLFLPMRJQYALMGNUVPDXVKP | | DQUMEBEDMHDAFMJGZNUPLGEWJLLAETG | | ENDYAHROHNLSRHEOCPTEOIBIDYSHNAIA | | CHTNREYULDSLLSLLNOHSNOSMRWXMNE | | TPRNGATIHNRARPESLNNELEBLPIIACAE | | WMTWNDITEENRAHCTENEUDRETNHAEOE | | TFOLSEDTIWENHAEIOYTEYQHEENCTAYCR | | EIFTBRSPAMHHEWENATAMATEGYEERLB | | TEEFOASFIOTUETUAEOTOARMAEERTNRTI | | BSEDDNIAAHTTMSTEWPIEROAGRIEWFEB | | AECTDDHILCEIHSITEGOEAOSDDRYDLORIT | | RKLMLEHAGTDHARDPNEOHMGFMFEUHE | | ECDMRIPFEIMEHNLSSTTRTVDOHW?OBKR | | UOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSO | | TWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYP | | VTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR | |-------------------------------------| |------------------------------------------------------------| | Example of a Columnar Transposition | | | | Original message: "Cryptography is a useful tool for | | information protection" | | | | 7x7 Matrix: C R Y P T O G | | R A P H Y I S | | A U S E F U L | | T O O L F O R | | I N F O R M A | | T I O N P R O | | T E C T I O N | | | | Encrypted message: "CRATI TTRAU ONIEY | | PSOPO CPHEL ONTTY FFRPI OIUOM | | ROGSL RAONX" | | (made by reading down the columns, then breaking | | into 5-letter blocks. The last "X" is an arbitrary filler | | so the last group will also have 5 letters.) | | | |------------------------------------------------------------| Finally, the part of the message from "OBKRUO..." to the end may make use of a one- time system. Essentially, every character in the orig- inal message is encrypted using its own unique alpha- bet. This is a very secure cryptographic system, because if the alphabets used are selected at random, there is no pattern to follow for anyone trying to break the code. The other half of the sculpture may provide a clue as to which alphabets are used, however. It is an arrangement of the alphabet, known as a Vigenere Square, in which each successive row is shifted one place to the left (In this case, some of the letters are shifted in position to spell the word KRYPTOS), with reference alphabets along the top, bottom, and side. Though used in many ways, this table is very often used for one-time-pad encryption. For example, if someone wanted to encrypt the letter "G", and the key they were using was the letter "F", he would just look down column "G" to row "F" and would see that "G" becomes an,'E'. Since there are 26 rows and column on the Vigenere square, any letter can be encrypted as any other letter depending on the key used. There is speculation that the other elements of Jim Sanborn's sculpture may hold clues to the cipher used in the message in the courtyard, but there is yet no proof. You may have noted the dots and dashes on the metal sheets between the granite slabs in front of the NHB (New Headquarters Building?) entrance; this is Morse Code, and there are five phrases: "DIGE TAL INTERPRETATU", "T IS YOUR POSITION", "VIRTUALLY INVISIBLE", "SHADOW FORCES", and "LUCID MEMORY". Also to be found are the letter combinations "SOS" and "RQ". In the case of the sculpture, cryptography is mainly an intriguing oddity; but cryptography has a very real role in the world of intelligence. (Information and sources need to be protected, and cryptography can afford that protection.) If you decide to tackle the cipher, good luck! We will attempt to keep you posted on any relevant developments as they arise. |---------------------------------| | The KRYPTOS Vigenere Table | | | | /ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD | | AKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYP | | BRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPT | | CYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTO | | DPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOS | | ETOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSA | | FOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSAB | | GSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABC | | HABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCD | | IBCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDE | | JCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEF | | KDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFG | | LEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGH | | MFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHI | | NGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJ | | OHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJL | | PIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLM | | QJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMN | | RLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQ | | SMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQU | | TNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUV | | UQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVW | | VUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWX | | WVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZ | | XWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZK | | YXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKR | | ZZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRY | | /ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD | |---------------------------------| /end of file/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From acargi@erols.com Wed Jun 16 12:43:05 1999 Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 12:45:42 -0400 From: Henry J Siano To: ACA-L@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU Subject: Markoff New York Times Article 6 16 99 June 16, 1999 C.I.A.'s Artistic Enigma Yields All but Final Clue By JOHN MARKOFF It has stood in a courtyard inside the Central Intelligence Agency for almost a decade, a sculptural mystery inside an enigma. But last week Jim Gillogly, a Southern California computer scientist, did what has until now been done -- quietly, and incompletely -- only inside the agency's halls. He succeeded in breaking almost all of a cipher embedded in a sculpture called Kryptos -- the Greek word for "hidden" -- that was dedicated at the C.I.A. in October 1990. Since then, the 865-character message etched into the sculpture by the artist, Jim Sanborn, has defied all efforts to unravel its conundrum completely. Even Gillogly acknowledges that he has deciphered only its first 768 characters. Still unbroken are the last 97 characters, apparently the same section that has also stumped both the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency. Sanborn said this week that the sculpture contains a riddle within a riddle -- one that will be solvable only after the four encrypted passages are known. The complete answer was handed to William H. Webster, the Director of Central Intelligence when the sculpture was completed, and has been held in confidence by his successors. The tantalizing clues uncovered last week are likely to rekindle interest in a complete solution: The three sections include a poetic phrase, a reference to a point near the C.I.A.'s headquarters in Langley, Va. (with the enticing passage, "Who knows the exact location? Only WW"), and an excerpt from an account of the opening of King Tut's tomb in 1922. "I don't really have a good idea of what it might be," said Gillogly, a 53-year-old cryptographer at Mentat Inc., a Los Angeles software maker, who started designing cryptograms with his brother as a child in an effort to stump their father. A computer hacker in the best sense of the word and a past president of the American Cryptogram Association, Gillogly (pronounced gill-OH-glee) began exploring the Kryptos message in 1992, but he abandoned it until nine days ago, when he saw it briefly alluded to in an Internet discussion group. This time he was armed with a better weapon than the pencil and paper he had seven years ago: his home computer, a highly powered Pentium II. And the key to solving the first three sections of the message proved to be a program that Gillogly had written as part of his cryptographic passion. The program, he said, is intended to help solve what he refers to as classical cryptographic systems used by kings, armies and spies before World War II. Even with more computational power, he had to apply traditional cryptographic methods, using his logical powers of deduction. "There was a fair amount of skull sweat," he said. "You work on it and you see something that is a little out of whack and you start pulling on it to see what unravels." When he contacted the C.I.A's press office last week, Gillogly learned that he was not the first codebreaker to succeed at unraveling the first part of the mystery. In February, David Stein, who works for the agency as a physicist and senior analyst, and not as a professional cryptographer, had quietly uncovered the same three passages. Like Gillogly, he has been stumped by the final section, although he believes that it will eventually be solved. "The Kryptos puzzle is a layered puzzle," he said yesterday, "and we may find that it has layers within layers within layers." Stein sounded a bit miffed when he learned that Gillogly had used a computer in his pursuit of the hidden codes. "Kryptos was meant to be solved with pencil and paper," he said. There were no written rules in this contest, Gillogly responded, adding: "As far as I'm concerned a crack is where you find it. The choice of tool isn't the important part, but rather the decisions about how to use the tools." For his part, Webster, the former Director, said yesterday that he had long since forgotten the answer. "I have zero memory of this," he said. "It was philosophical and obscure." But he sided with Gillogly on using a computer. "Who set the rules here?" he asked. "This is precisely what the agencies do when they try to break codes." Sanborn, the artist, who has designed a number of sculptures that are puzzles, has said he believes that the ultimate secret hidden in the text of Kryptos will never be deciphered. It was designed by Edward M. Scheidt, a former chairman of the C.I.A.'s Cryptographic Center. That has not stopped either Gillogly or Stein from speculating on what the full message may contain. And Gillogly has even contemplated exploring the bag of tricks of some of the world's acknowledged past spy masters in search of the complete solution. "There're still those last few lines waiting to be decrypted," he wrote last week in an Internet discussion group. "I'll review the 'Mission Impossible' movie for tips on getting into the vault, if all else fails." Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company ____________________________________________________________________ From dlsmith@annap.infi.net Wed Jun 16 12:45:01 1999 Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 13:10:35 -0400 From: Dave Smith Reply-To: ACA-L To: ACA-L@LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU Subject: Re: Markoff New York Times Article 6 16 99 ARGUSEYE provided the main article in his post. There is also a secondary article with the text of the solution. It is provided below: ----- June 16, 1999 The Kryptos Code Unmasked Here are the first three passages of the code on the Kryptos statue as deciphered by Jim Gillogly, including misspellings (of "illusion," "underground" and "desperately"). The second passage identifies a location near the C.I.A. headquarters; the third is taken from Howard Carter's account of the opening of King Tut's tomb in 1922. --------------------------------------------------- Related Article C.I.A.'s Artistic Enigma Yields All but Final Clue (June 16, 1999) --------------------------------------------------- 1. Between subtle shading and the absence of light lies the nuance of iqlusion. 2. It was totally invisible. How's that possible? They used the earth's magnetic field. x The information was gathered and transmitted undergruund to an unknown location. x Does Langley know about this? They should: it's buried out there somewhere. x Who knows the exact location? Only WW. This was his last message. x Thirty-eight degrees fifty-seven minutes six point five seconds north, seventy-seven degrees eight minutes forty-four seconds west. ID by rows. 3. Slowly, desparatly slowly, the remains of passage debris that encumbered the lower part of the doorway was removed. With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. And then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in. The hot air escaping from the chamber caused the flame to flicker, but presently details of the room within emerged from the mist. x Can you see anything? ----- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.und.nodak.edu/org/crypto/crypto/general.crypt.info/Kryptos/Kryptos.bmp (check in same directory for this)