Kryptos Sculpture's Secret Sold: New Owner Challenges Solvers

The Kryptos sculpture, located at the CIA headquarters, is famous for its four encrypted passages, three of which have been solved over the years. The fourth passage, K4, has remained a persistent enigma for enthusiasts worldwide.

In November of last year, the sculpture's creator, Jim Sanborn, auctioned off the solution to K4. The winning bid, nearly $1 million, came from Paradigm, an investment and software firm based in San Francisco. This firm specializes in fields like robotics and artificial intelligence and views puzzles as a research tool.

Paradigm has introduced a new website to engage the public with Kryptos and cryptography. The site features a "capture-the-flag" challenge with 10 puzzles, each offering a $1,000 reward to the first person who solves it. Even though Paradigm now possesses the plaintext of K4, they have chosen not to reveal it to themselves or the public, opting instead to focus on the problem-solving process.

To manage submissions and verify solutions without compromising the answer, Paradigm employs a secure encryption method. The plaintext solution provided by Mr. Sanborn was encrypted into a unique authentication code, stored in the cloud, and then deleted from the original machine. Submissions are also encrypted and hashed; a match between the authentication codes confirms a correct solution. A small fee of $1 is required to deter excessive guessing.

The firm views this initiative as an extension of their business model, where they often crowdsource solutions to complex problems and sometimes hire or invest in individuals who provide the best answers. They encourage the use of all methods, including AI, to solve the 36-year-old mystery.

Additionally, a separate puzzle created by Mr. Sanborn, known as K5, was part of the auction package and is planned for future release. Mr. Sanborn expressed his satisfaction with Paradigm's secure method of handling the K4 solution and noted that the new online platform will allow him to cease responding to the numerous daily inquiries he receives, freeing him to focus on writing a book.