Unveiling Cicada 3301: An Internet Mystery

Book excerpt: Unveiling Cicada 3301 - An Internet Mystery is a case study book on ‘Cicada 3301’ an anonymous internet group, known for its highly cryptic puzzles. Cicada 3301 has been called “The Most Elaborate and Mysterious Puzzle of the Internet age.” The Washington Post ranked it as one of the “Top 5 Eeriest, Unsolved Mysteries of the Internet.” Seven years after the elaborate cryptographic puzzle contest first launched, it still seems that no one except the person(s) who started it know(s) what it even meant—if it meant anything at all.A growing community of armchair detectives sought to unravel this elaborate puzzle, but no one was quite sure what to make of it. Questions like:What was the puzzle for?Who was behind it?What happens when you reach the end?are all over the internet since 2012.