That key hint and having seen Zargh mention the cipher type is the only reason I found the answer. And even then I only vaguely knew of it enough to look up the right house.
got it. considering the help I had just here in the forums, i kinda did this on easy mode, though i did start to decode it once i had the key. I really need to start reading up on crytography.
Puzzle is the picture below: (changed it to a link so it won't mess with folks to much.) NatureGold.jpg SGZycSBCY3JhQ2hzcyBzYmUgZ3VyIHN2ZWZnIHlubHJlLCBhYmcgdGJ2YXQgZ2IgZ2JlZ2hlciBsYmggYmEgZ3VuZy4gIEFiIE8gYmUgUCBjbmZmamJlcWYgbmFxIHpuayBzYmUgd2N0Lg== (sorry for the image size, one issue with the process used it is that it wanted lots of space to hide such small things) Spoiler: Just noticed this Uif ebtift jo uif dpnnfou bsf kvtu ebtift
Spoiler: just in case It's a stegged photo - the information you'll need to start decrypting it is in the cipher below the image. As for the password, I'm still guessing - haven't found many hints other than the photo itself, although: Spoiler: dug deeper The exif data for the image lists a comment: "(6 A2DD65 E96 $49@@=[ H96C6 r9:=5C6? DEC@G6 pE #646DD – :? E96 #:?8 –" Which seems somewhat out of place to me, being a comment section and all. Although I'm not sure how relevant it really is - either way, I haven't been able to decipher it so far. Other than that, in regards to the filename, I attempted "Honeybee" (minimum password length of 8), but didn't get me anywhere.
SGZycSBCY3JhQ2hzcyBzYmUgZ3VyIHN2ZWZnIHlubHJlLCBhYmcgdGJ2YXQgZ2IgZ2JlZ2hlciBsYmggYmEgZ3VuZy4gIEFiIE8gYmUgUCBjbmZmamJlcWYgbmFxIHpuayBzYmUgd2N0Lg== Spoiler To decypher it you need to use Base64, also known as MIME encoding, translates binary into safe text. It is used to send attachments in email and to change small bits of unsafe high-character data into stuff that is a lot nicer for text-based system. Spoiler Then you will get this tekst: Hfrq BcraChss sbe gur svefg ynlre, abg tbvat gb gbegher lbh ba gung. Ab O be P cnffjbeqf naq znk sbe wct. Spoiler To crack it i used Rot13 encoder Rot13 isn't a very secure algorithm. A becomes N, B becomes O, C changes to P, etc. It is used to obscure spoilers and hints so that the person reading has to do a little work in order to understand the message instead of being able to accidentally read it. Spoiler Used OpenPuff for the first layer, not going to torture you on that. No B or C passwords and max for jpg.
Spoiler "More," huh? Hmmm. Edit: Unless that involves knowing where to go to pick the flower, I think I may have to wait for more hints on that... ;-)
(I'll keep using spoiler-tags as this thread is basically a collection of one-shot puzzles - returning folks might not appreciate tripping over information about the next spoiler) Going from the exif data, it would appear the picture was taken at Spoiler 42°49'0.49"N 70°51'58.29"W Which points to a small suburb(?) in Salisbury, just north of Boston. On a related note Spoiler Taking into consideration bljkr's recent additional comment, I assume the clue is indeed the exif comment - quoted in my previous post. I've only glanced at it, but initially, it does not ring any bells in regards to any common cryptological cipher - however "1337 speak" does come to mind, although a preliminary attempt doesn't seem to yield any noteworthy results.
You are right about your assumption. Spoiler: On what to do with it... (fairly big hint) It's a less-common variation of a very common encoding method. As for where I'm at... Spoiler: Spoiler for later If you notice the plural "hide such small things" in the original post, I've only managed "thing" so far.
Ah, good to know - and nice work! ^^ I already tried shoe-horning it into the most common methods I could think of, but didn't get me much. Will have to try again once I'm done with this weeks reading.
Okay, I am not sure where people are with the puzzle. I kind of know, but not really (doesn't help that it has layers so even when people ask or talk about it I don't necessarily know exactly what stage they are at), and I had a person ask, so for clarity's sake. Just an A passphrase no B or C and maximum bit usage under jpgs for OpenPuff (used this just cause it had a feature I was curious to try beyond just seeing how it worked and it does allow multi-word passphrases or ones with special characters). But ah, I mentioned layers... (hides ya I like layered puzzles that need just a touch of research and I am sorry) Spoiler nccebk. 4-6 ynlref qrcraqvat ba ubj lbh ybbx ng vg. I did hide clues about which I have seen people mention, though moving from a very particular layer to the next may be a bit harder, i am pretty sure I forgot to leave a clear bread crumb there, so I'll probably mention something at that point.
I can be less cryptic about where I am with it, just for information's sake. Not sure how many other people may have gotten this far yet, though. Spoiler: No actual answers here, but does spoil it a bit... I figured out the encoding, got the reference, got the password from that. Used it, solved the first layer, got the "prize." That's where I was initially stuck. Then working with another agent (who is more than welcome to out himself - I can't take credit for this part)... Spoiler: Same here... We were discussing the other information available for the image, and that agent recognized the significance of one piece of it, which led to another possible password, very similar to the first. But I couldn't get it to work, either alone or combined with the first. Not sure if he ever did either. So still at the second door, we may have just loosened the lock just a bit.
<.< >.> <.< *scuffing feet* Um, ya I was trying to fix the weak link I mentioned above and realized I had forgotten a password at one of the layers, long practice of forgetting information I don't need to be remembering, but I wanted that link to be a bit stronger or easier to see. So, I updated the image above, nothing that people have mentioned to me has changed. Old image is at NATUREGOLDorg.JPG if you want the added challenge and didn't get a copy before 10 minutes ago. And I don't know why the new image is a couple bytes smaller then the old probably something to do with the steg. Oh, just so you can be sure of getting the new version: new NATUREGOLD.JPG
recreational vehicle? Spoiler: Nature Gold Haven't heard any new discussion, so figured I might drop a couple clues. Spoiler: Comment For the comment message ROT(Meaning of Life+5) Spoiler: OpenPuff Two possible passphrases here, one fairly obvious one which I'll just ignore and the other less obvious which the clue is for. Spoiler: Less Obvious Related to the comment. Spoiler: Relation1 Author Spoiler: Relation2 Subject Matter Spoiler: Formatting Perhaps there is a sample formatting for the passphrase floating about. I guess that will be all for now.
Yes. Spoiler As we know, in the details on the Naturegold photo there are some co-ordinates. I tracked them to an address in Salisbury Mass. On Streetview there's an enormous boat parked in the road. Well, when I say enormous...it's certainly bigger than any boat I've ever owned.
So, alas, no boat then? Spoiler OK, was the Author the easy part? Because she was, but I'm also wondering if the words "fairly obvious one" and some permutation of child's play isn't something I should be focusing on.
Yes, and probably not. Spoiler Might consider the name of the piece. I wouldn't go to far out on the research web, I stayed pretty close to home in general, and only an odd ball clue that in hindsight might have been a bit to odd.
