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It's an ARG created by the Government to wake internet nerds up to the very real possibility of an Arctic War. The truth is in the middle 
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 20:34 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 06:44 |
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Wait, is this gonna be something like at the end of Ender's Game, but with Naval War: Arctic Circle? Because I am terrible at that game.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 21:11 |
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Is there some way to crowdsource cracking this poo poo? Like folding@home but different, each computer working on a different "chunk" of potential passwords.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 22:23 |
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Bunch of weird noises coming from the autodialer now. 4 in the past 10 minutes. poo poo's gettin creepy.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 22:36 |
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Segmentation Fault posted:Is there some way to crowdsource cracking this poo poo? Like folding@home but different, each computer working on a different "chunk" of potential passwords. You mean Bitcoin ? 
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 22:41 |
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Absolutely has to be a hoax. From reading the wiki it *appears* that the information is somehow supposed to be related to Nato/Russian military deployments plus messages to "agents." The thing is, any intelligence service (unless we are talking some small tiny country in the middle of nowhere) would: 1.Know every time such a system was "activated" and which agent or agents correspond to these "agent codes." They would notice "over access" right away. 2. Have immediately identified where calls to the system were coming from, unless these calls were masked in some fashion. Additionally: 3. Such a system would be far better protected than this. This is not 1951. 4. Even if none of the above were true, any intelligence organization--even the dumb ones form tiny countries--would have noticed that their "information" and "encryption" drops were compromised. This would have happened the first time someone retrieved a CD, or whatever, from the drop location and thus that CD was never delivered to its intended recipient. 5. All of the above would have resulted in encryption changes almost immediately, and if 1-3 had not yet happened, they would have been as soon as they noticed the occurrence of 4. Any further communication through that phone number would be designed to dupe or entrap the people hacking the system. And at the very least the encryption would have changed. 6. If this were a foreign government, intelligence service, or a "low level cartel" as someone else has suggested, the phone number/communication system being compromised would most likely have resulted in the system being shut down. 7. If it *is* an intelligence service or cartel (these people aren't stupid) they could have loving googled the phone number to discover the source of the leaks (or that leaks were occurring) a long time ago. The CIA (or any intelligence service that data mines) would have noticed the first time that the number was posted on 4chan (or wherever). This just leads me to one conclusion. This has to be a very elaborate hoax perpetrated by a small group of people on the internet. It makes absolutely no sense otherwise. So my guess is solving this mystery is as simple as finding the phone numbers' first reference on the internet and figuring out who made it. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at Oct 1, 2012 around 22:57 |
| # ? Oct 1, 2012 22:49 |
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Or they just don't care? It's a lot of effort for a hoax. I stand by my theory 
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 22:57 |
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ZombieLenin posted:This just leads me to one conclusion. This has to be a very elaborate hoax perpetrated by a small group of people on the internet. It makes absolutely no sense otherwise. Almost like a game. An Alternate Reality Game, perhaps?
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:08 |
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Air Julio posted:Almost like a game. An Alternate Reality Game, perhaps?
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:09 |
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Air Julio posted:Almost like a game. An Alternate Reality Game, perhaps? That's quite a mouthful, I suggest we shorten it to 'ARG' or something in the future.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:11 |
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McDowell posted:Or they just don't care? It's a lot of effort for a hoax. I stand by my theory Its not that much effort if you have 5 or 6 people working together around the country. Also, if they just didn't care, then they would not bother with encryption and strange phone numbers. Even on its surface this is far to stereotypical. Seriously it is something from a pulp fiction spy novel from the 1950s. In fact, they would have even less of an incentive to continue doing this after 4chan, ebaum, and now SA "broke into the system." Again, they should have--even low level cartels who transmit military information about the north pole (doesn't make much sense)--noticed they'd been breached when "drops" began to vanish. If it were a government of some sort, this would have been noticed sooner (maybe), but intelligence agency or cartel it would have been noticed. All it would take is googling the number to find out who, what and where. Any real intelligence service--CIA, Israel, Western Europe, China or Russia--would have discovered the breach through data mining. In any case, once discovered and looked into, the breach and all the information being taken and posted on the above internet sites would incentivize the "culprit" to just move to an unencrypted system (or made the current system more robust). Think about it. Once goons/4chan/etards are involved the information leaks are never going to stop coming. These will/would continue to be posted on internet for the whole world to read. So your information is actually less protected the way it is, and the very existence of this "system" implies that someone would at least have some interest in the information being provided staying private. ZombieLenin fucked around with this message at Oct 1, 2012 around 23:15 |
| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:11 |
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 MY GOD. You're right! Up until now I was convinced it was the KGB. Well, I say close the thread now.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:13 |
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Bunch of people that hate fun up in this thread. 
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:18 |
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Shut it down, fellas. Show's over. ZombieLenin came back from the grave to crack the case.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:18 |
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Of course a zombie Lenin wouldn't want us monitoring russian ship activities. We're on to you, you commie gently caress! Speaking of commies, I wonder how Santa Claus fits into this. I mean, he wears a red suit, monitors everyone's behavior, hands out free poo poo, and lives on the north pole. NORAD doesn't track that fat bastard for nothin'
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:25 |
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Feranon posted:Of course a zombie Lenin wouldn't want us monitoring russian ship activities. We're on to you, you commie gently caress! Launching... MIGs... my god...
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:26 |
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I know this is an ARG for a very specific reason . . . THAT I WON'T TELL YOU OH poo poo I'M A TROLL No but really, this is one of the more interesting ones I've seen, and probably the second one I'm interested in playing out.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:44 |
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Also for fucks sake can someone send me a recording of that number that's not terribly sampled thanks. Edit: I only have a cell phone.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:46 |
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dougdrums posted:Also for fucks sake can someone send me a recording of that number that's not terribly sampled thanks.
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| # ? Oct 1, 2012 23:56 |
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So this is an ARG about the Russian government attempting to forcibly blockade Santa Claus? EDIT: Man, I had this joke in my head all day only to be beaten...
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 00:00 |
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This is both exciting and confusing as gently caress, I'm new to ARG's and looking at the wiki, Blue Hill website and comments here I don't have a clue what's real and what isn't, it's like the matrix on acid. I'd help but I am not even sure how to set up IRC  so I'll just watch for updates and hopefully this is a real conspiracy and you all end up missing (for entertainment purposes).
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 00:04 |
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Oh my god, a serious Sounding "request" for ideas about some Internet detectivery trying to figure out what is clearly a big loving hoax responded to seriously. gently caress that guy. Okay, who thinks it is the loving space aliens invade the north pole with migs game?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 00:05 |
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ZombieLenin posted:Oh my god, a serious Sounding "request" for ideas about some Internet detectivery trying to figure out what is clearly a big loving hoax responded to seriously. gently caress that guy. Dude... Half life 3.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 00:44 |
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ZombieLenin posted:Oh my god, a serious Sounding "request" for ideas about some Internet detectivery trying to figure out what is clearly a big loving hoax responded to seriously. gently caress that guy. I doubt many people people think this is a "real" thing. Most of us think it's an "ARG". What we're trying to figure out is what the "messages" are saying, what the ultimate "goal" of the game is, and what it is advertising, if at all. You don't need to "prove" that anything is a "hoax". That is why you have not gotten a serious "answer" to your "serious" request. Air Julio fucked around with this message at Oct 2, 2012 around 02:38 |
| # ? Oct 2, 2012 01:31 |
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Air Julio posted:I doubt many people people think this is a "real" thing. Most of us think it's an "ARG". What we're trying to figure out is what the "messages" are saying, what the ultimate "goal" of the game is, and what it is advertising, if at all. You don't need to "prove" that anything is a "hoax". That is why you have not gotten a serious "answer" to your "serious" request. I think I get what he's saying. The game is a hoax. There is no game, just an elaborate web of lies to make us think there's a game. I can't wait to see where this game, I mean hoax, goes. I really suck at participating but it's still fun to try and figure it out (and fail miserably).
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 02:16 |
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Air Julio posted:I doubt many people people think this is a "real" thing. Most of us think it's an "ARG". What we're trying to figure out is what the "messages" are saying, what the ultimate "goal" of the game is, and what it is advertising, if at all. You don't need to "prove" that anything is a "hoax". That is why you have not gotten a serious "answer" to your "serious" request. It almost seems like he doesn't get what an ARG is. A huge part of the fun is suspending your disbelief, and it works especially well when the ARG blends fact and fiction or utilizes non-game happenings to add drama and tension. It's a "hoax" in the same way the Cloverfield movie was a "hoax" (because NYC was absolutely not destroyed by a giant monster, duh guys!). ARGs don't need to be done by major game companies either, or even selling a product. E: Though I do wish this was for Cryostasis 2. It's got icebreakers, the Arctic, Russia... God that game was neat. The Gasmask fucked around with this message at Oct 2, 2012 around 02:27 |
| # ? Oct 2, 2012 02:23 |
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dougdrums posted:Also for fucks sake can someone send me a recording of that number that's not terribly sampled thanks.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 03:13 |
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So what's the over/under on this being an ARG for HL3 or Trent Reznor's new album?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 03:46 |
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Coasterphreak posted:So what's the over/under on this being an ARG for HL3 or Trent Reznor's new album? If it was for a Trent Reznor album we'd be getting information about the heavy-handed religious cult that infiltrated, and overtook, the government. The timing for that would be impeccable, I guess. Man, I miss the Year Zero ARG. I wish they had finished it.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 04:05 |
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One of my buddies (also a goon) works at level3, I'll show him this thread tomorrow and see what he can find about that number posted earlier. I love ARG's. I actually snagged one of the iceflys from the gum game last year.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 05:07 |
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GWBBQ posted:Which numbers do you want dialed and recorded? 202-999-3335 and 303-309-0004 If you could do 16 bits at 44.1 KHz (or better) it'd be pretty cool. I'm hoping it's the HL3 soundtrack by Trent Reznor. dougdrums fucked around with this message at Oct 2, 2012 around 10:43 |
| # ? Oct 2, 2012 10:38 |
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For those of you that don't think you can help because you're not super techny nerdlingtons, I've got a recommendation: Use logic! The biggest things we're trying to do now (or at least before I went to bed) was to try to crack the "Agent 3323" puzzle. Do some googling around cryptography to get a background, try to figure out what those number/letters could mean. I'd like to think that we would have figured it out if it's a straight replacement scheme, but maybe you'll have the idea that solves it. The other thing I can recommend is simply scouring the internet for information. There are plenty of loose ends that need to be tied up that aren't sound analysis or decrypting messages. Was it just a coincidence that the 2nd dead drop was hit by a car a day later? Are Blue Hill and its famous residents actually important at all?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 11:45 |
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I speed the sounds up and down! I'M HELPING! 
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 11:49 |
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SniperX posted:I speed the sounds up and down! I'M HELPING! So we've ruled out any competent foreign intelligence agencies from doing this.. but what if it's North Korea? Or Lichtenstein?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 11:52 |
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In case that Rogue Agent thing is 'official', I just wish they'd drop the mysterious X-file inspired babble... who talks like that? "I just seek companionship". A little too romanticized to maintain the illusion for authenticity. Other than that, I'm really enjoying watching the progress of this and I'm in awe of how drat smart some regular joes are... I can't even try and understand what cracking codes like these takes. And I'm digging the whole arctic vibe. A tie-in to Tunguska and/or Diatlov and it'd be perfect 
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 12:04 |
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Can we make a separate thread for ARG reviews?
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 13:04 |
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SquadronROE posted:For those of you that don't think you can help because you're not super techny nerdlingtons, I've got a recommendation: Agent 3323. Agent DEAD.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 14:25 |
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SquadronROE posted:For those of you that don't think you can help because you're not super techny nerdlingtons, I've got a recommendation: My guess is that the string of numbers/letters (0A7F FECA 26B6 3ED8 D561 8E59 9569 6F8C C8E5 B5DF BDFA 849C) is a hash of some sort, maybe an SHA hash or something? The fact that the message lists a salt right after suggests it too. Unfortunately I don't know enough to tweak rainbow tables to account for salts or anything.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 15:04 |
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Zelmel posted:My guess is that the string of numbers/letters (0A7F FECA 26B6 3ED8 D561 8E59 9569 6F8C C8E5 B5DF BDFA 849C) is a hash of some sort, maybe an SHA hash or something? The fact that the message lists a salt right after suggests it too. Unfortunately I don't know enough to tweak rainbow tables to account for salts or anything. Good idea. That's something worth checking out... if I knew what any of that meant.
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 15:24 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 06:44 |
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SquadronROE posted:Good idea. That's something worth checking out... if I knew what any of that meant. In relatively simple terms (as I'm not a math or crypto guy) a hash is a one-way cryptographic function (it's the way passwords are typically stored in databases), and a salt is an added value to prevent people from being able to brute force the hash to decrypt it. You can break many hashes (eventually) using rainbow tables, but if they're salted the tables won't work. If you know the salt, you can tweak the tables to account for it, but I don't actually know how to do it. SHA is just a broad type of hash (encompassing multiple types: SHA-1, SHA-256, etc) often used to uniquely identify software/files in the info security community that I used as an example (I haven't looked up what the unique features of the various types of SHA hashes are to see if this could even be one).
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| # ? Oct 2, 2012 15:35 |
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