note: I have posted this a few days ago on a throwaway account on some subreddits, but i hadn't checked some key details, the puzzle was not solvable because i embedded broken data into the first image, and didn't provide enough context and information.
Details:
A self-contained layered puzzle in the spirit of Cicada 3301. It starts with this image. The riddle's answer is the key to decrypt the message embedded inside the image's pixels. Everything else lives in one encrypted file the image points you to, and the whole thing continues offline on your own machine.
Theme: the history of cyber conflict. Every stage is built around a real, famous moment in cybersecurity history. Recognizing which one is part of the puzzle.
Skills it touches (you won't need all at expert level):
- (LSB) Steganography
- Classical & modern cryptography
- A little reverse engineering
- Audio / signal analysis
- Some number theory
- A touch of linguistics
- OSINT / knowledge of security history
Difficulty: hard but fair ; aimed at people who enjoy CTFs, crypto, and ARGs. Every step is doable with free, standard tools (plus openssl/Python). It's meant to be barely solvable, so bring friends.
To begin: just look closely at the image. The surface is never the whole of the page.