Three years ago, a mysterious series of online puzzle called Cicada 3301 presented itself to the code geniuses around the world, looking for “highly intelligent individuals” for their recruits. It excited many of the coders but also baffled the online users.

Cicada 3301 is not a hacker group, spy organization nor a government agency. According to their own communicator, they work for human’s right for “liberty, privacy, security.” This secret society ensures the privacy and anonymity of its own members.

One of the few members that have decided to go public about this secret society include current college student Marcus Wanner. Growing up home-schooled in a strict Catholic family, Wanner was not allowed to have unsupervised computer time prior to 2012, the year he got his own laptop. Soon after Wanner found the puzzle from Cicada 3301. A simple message appeared to him, reading “Hello. We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test. There is a message hidden in this image. Find it, and it will lead you on the road to finding us. We look forward to meeting the few that will make it all the way through. Good luck.”

Wanner recruited few other coders around the world. 15 year old Tekk, 16 year old math prodigy Wakeen, 26 years old Norwegian hacker Henrik joined in, creating the group named #decipher.

The complex process of deciphering the message led to challenges including 75 combinations of numbers, the romance poem “The Lady of the Fountain,” and list of 13 numbers that gives coordinate for the location of the group all over the world.

Though Wanner managed to have success in decoding the message, many members involved dropped out due to fear. Some cite warning notes from 3301 tellings them they shared too much about the secret cyber organization as the reason for this sudden departure.

According to Wanner, Cicada 3301 use the symbol cicada considering it a creature of master encryption, and a twin prime number 3301 forward and backward. They do not publicize themselves and did not clarify what and who they are.

Online coders are anxious to see if new recruit message for 2015 is coming up. However, if you’re interested in attempting to figure out who is behind the society, you  may not be welcomed with open arms. According to Rolling Stone, an anonymous author who had been part of Cicada 3301 for decades warned, “Stay away.”

Information credit to Rolling Stone

http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/cicada-solving-the-webs-deepest-mystery-20150115