The Cyrillic Projector Code - Cracked!
Dateline: September 22, 2003
Summary
An international group of cryptographers, the Kryptos Group, announced this week that the decade-old Cyrillic Projector Code has been cracked, and that it deciphers to some classified KGB instructions and correspondence.
The Cyrillic Projector is an encrypted sculpture at the University of North
Carolina in Charlotte, that was created by Washington DC artist Jim Sanborn in the early 1990s. It was inspired by the encrypted Kryptos sculpture that
Sanborn created two years earlier for CIA Headquarters.
The message on the Cyrillic Projector has turned out to be in two parts. The
decrypted first part is a Russian text encouraging secret agents to psychologically
control potential sources of information. The second part appears to be a partial
quote from classified KGB correspondence about the Soviet dissident Sakharov,
with concerns that his report to the Pugwash conference was being used by the
Americans for an anti-Soviet agenda.
Background
Sculptor Sanborn created
two codes -- One for the CIA's Kryptos sculpture, and another lesser-known one related to KGB operations.
The CIA's Kryptos sculpture attained international media attention in 1999 when it was announced that the first three sections of the Kryptos code had been solved independently by
two different cryptographers. Part 4 of Kryptos remains uncracked to this day, and was what sparked the creation of the Kryptos Group in May 2003. The group currently has about 70 members from
at least four different continents, and includes cryptographers, mathematicians, game developers,
academics, and other interested hobbyists. Along with investigating the Kryptos
code itself, the group is also closely examining other elements related to
Kryptos, such as other sculptures created by artist Jim Sanborn, including the
Cyrillic Projector.
The Cyrillic Projector was originally a piece displayed in Sanborn's gallery shows in the early 1990s.
In 1997, it was installed permanently at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. The Projector is a bronze cylinder, five feet wide and several feet tall, with hundreds of cyrillic characters cut through its metal circumference. At night, a bright light on the inside of the cylinder shines through the letters, illuminating the campus courtyard with
encrypted cyrillic text.
The Solution Process
The decryption process of the Cyrillic Projector Code was a unique
international project, involving the work of several different people working in
parallel -- some who knew each other, and others who were unaware of each
other's efforts.
The process broke down into three major sections: Transcription, Decryption, and Translation.
Transcription
| A major step towards a solution was the compilation of a complete
transcript in June 2003. Three different members of the Kryptos Group spent
weeks painstakingly transcribing the cyrillic characters from photographs,
to create three independent transcripts. The comparison of those three
transcripts was posted publicly on the website of one of the group's moderators
on June 18th, 2003. At the right you can see a partial section of the ciphertext. |
Л T Ф E Ю
T Ф Я Й Я M П X Ц Ф A Ч
H Щ П B Б Г Ж Ч C К Ь Г
Г Л З Д Э Й П
Ъ К X C Й P Э A Ф H Ф П Щ
B П E Ц P Д Ф A Щ Ш T К C X C
Ч Ы У X X E Ю
К У M Л E Ч Л Ы T O Б H E Я
Ж Ж И Ь H Э З Щ Ц P Л
Ы Б П H Ф O И И A Б Ь
П И К Л E У P Ы C M Ъ Ш
Л Л Б X M X Л Ж Ш P A Щ P Й
Л П E O O Й Й B Ц
И Ъ Л Б X Ц P Ы Ч C К A
P C P B Я Э Ф К Ю Ф P Ю M O Я
З O Л O Д Э Ш P З У
Д X M A Э X O Й Г Й Ю Ф M Щ
X X C B И И З X A Г Й Я Ь П
C И Б P P Ш O M
К T C У Я Г X У Ь Л E У
P Ы C M Ъ Ш C П П Я Я Ц
Ш У Ш A Ц Ч П И M Ш H
P Б Ч P Я Ы M И У P A Д Ф
A И Ю Й Ы Ц Я Л O H У Ф
Ж O Ф Ш X Ф Ж C Б
B Ъ Ч Д Ц C Ф Б M Д Э Ш
P З У Д X У P Б Ш T O К Щ
Ъ M X П O T O X O Щ Ч
Ж A Ц Д Щ P A Ю Г O Й B P Б
Г Ю Б З Г E Ж P Й Л П
E O O Й Й B Ц H З П Г Ф
Ц З A И B Я Ю Ф Л Ъ Ц
X C Ч Ы Ш Ь Б E O M Щ Ш Ж
T Э Д Й O T T Ф X П P
П Л O Д Э Щ P З У Д X К
П Г Ф O Ц Б Щ Ъ M M Э К
Ч E P Л M К Ъ Ц Ц З Щ Л
Ф Ц Ч Ъ Щ К B H Ф A E C Д
П T Д Ф П P Я Й К Ю H X
B Ц Б Ю E И C Ч Я Ч Ц
X M Ж Л C П P Ч У Л Э Ш
Ж Ы И И M E D U S A И H X E З
Л Ч З P З Й К Л
П П E B Л Ч C X Ц Ы O Й B P Б
У Д X C B Ъ Г Ж Ч C К A P C P
B Я Э Ф P Щ Ф
Я Ц Щ П Ъ З Ы T Ф O Й
Й У C Д T Ю T B C Б P X C П Б
Щ Л Ш К У B Й Й Г З |
Decryption
| Other cryptographers who were not members of the group were
also working on the code, once they'd learned of the group's transcript.
One of those independent cryptographers figured out a decryption method
in July of 2003, but did not complete or announce his solution, because
his decryption resulted in a solid wall of Russian text which he could not
translate. Online translation programs were of little use because the resulting
text was all run together, and included spelling errors (a portion is at
the right).
Another group member independently came up with the same decryption
method in early September, but didn't announce it because he too wanted
to figure out how to translate the Russian before he said anything. |
B Ы C O Ч
A Й Ъ И M И C К У C C T B O M B
T A Й H O Й P A З B E Д К E
C П И T A E
T C Я C П O C O Б H O C T Ь P A З P A
Б O T A T Ь И C T O Ч
H И К К O T O P Ы M T Ы Б У
Д E Ш Ь B C E Ц E Л O P A H П O
P Я Ж A T
Ь C Я И К O H T P O Л И P O B A
T Ь П O Э T O C У T A Й H O Й P
A З B E
Д Ы B A T E Л Ь H O Й C Л У
Ж Б Ы К O H T P O Л И P У
E M Ы Й И C T O
Ч H И К К A К П P A B И Л
O П O C T A Я Л Я E T C A M У Ю
H A Д E Ж
H У Э И H Ф O P M A Ц И Ю
К O H T P O Л И P У E M Ы M C Ч
И T A E T
C Я К У П Л E H H Ы Й И
Л И H A X O Д Я Щ И Й C Я
B Л Ю Б O Й Д P У
Г O Й З A B И T И M O C T И И
C T O Ч H И К П O T P A Д И Ц
И И Ц E Л
Ь Э П P O Ф E C C И O H A Л A P
A Б O T A Ю |
| For an English example of the problem: |
thissentencemightbeeasxlyunderstondbblet
oanativeenglishspeekerbutsomeonenotfamil
iarwethenglishwouldhaveagreatdealoftroub
lereidingortranslatingitplusthefactthatt
hereisntanypuncuuationisntanyhelpeither |
Translation
|
On September 19th, one of the Kryptos Group's moderators noticed a webpage
that had been created by the July solver, which included the decryption
technique, though not the complete Russian plaintext or any English
translation. The moderator quickly informed the other group members
about the webpage, confirmed and duplicated the technique, and thereby
obtained her own version of the Russian plaintext.
|
BЫCOЧAЙЪИM
ИCКУCCTBOM B TAЙHOЙ PAЗBEДКE
CПИTAETCЯ CПOCOБHOCTЬ PAЗPAБOTATЬ
ИCTOЧHИК КOTOPЫM TЫ БУДEШЬ
BCEЦEЛO PAHПOPЯЖATЬCЯ И
КOHTPOЛИPOBATЬ ПOЭTOCУ TAЙHOЙ
PAЗBEДЫBATEЛЬHOЙ CЛУЖБЫ
КOHTPOЛИPУEMЫЙ ИCTOЧHИК
КAК ПPABИЛO ПOCTAЯЛЯET
CAMУЮ HAДEЖHУЭ ИHФOPMAЦИЮ
КOHTPOЛИPУEMЫM CЧИTAETCЯ
КУПЛEHHЫЙ ИЛИ
HAXOДЯЩИЙCЯ B ЛЮБOЙ
ДPУГOЙ ЗABИTИMOCTИ ИCTOЧHИК
ПO TPAДИЦИИ ЦEЛЬЭ
ПPOФECCИOHAЛA . . . |
|
Then, working with two others, she obtained the first
known English translation of the Cyrillic Projector Code on September
20th 2003. Other group members working independently confirmed the translation,
and so the announcement of the Code's solution was sent out.
At the right, is a partial English translation of the first part of
the Cyrillic Projector Code. |
The highest skill of the secret service is the ability to develop
a source, which you will handle and control completely so that the source
supplies, as a rule, the most reliable information. A controllable source
is a source that is considered bought or made otherwise dependent by
some means. Traditionally, the goal of the secret service professional
is to ensnare any potential-value source of information with a psychological
net, and pull tight this net at the appropriate time. There are not
too many possibilities for this, but those secret agents who develop
controllable sources of information will get promotions and the respect
of colleagues. However, the methods and behavioral techniques that are
needed to attain this goal . . .
|
The Details
Timeline
A timeline with the history of the Kryptos and Cyrillic Projector codes, and which individuals were involved in
obtaining the solutions:
http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/KryptosTimeline.html
The Cyrillic Projector Website
More information about the Cyrillic Projector, including the June 2003 transcript of its ciphertext:
http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/cyrillic.html
The Kryptos Group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kryptos
More information about Kryptos:
http://www.kryptos.us
Miscellaneous
A mirror of the discovered solution page:
http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/mirrors/CPSolution.html
More information about sculptor Jim Sanborn:
http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/sanborn.html
A collection of KGB documents, which may contain one that was quoted in the
Cyrillic Projector:
http://psi.ece.jhu.edu/~kaplan/IRUSS/BUK/GBARC/pdfs/sakharov/sakh-e.html
Contact Information
For any questions, or to obtain contact information for interviews, please contact one of the Kryptos Group moderators:
Sculptor Sanborn created
two codes -- One for the CIA's Kryptos sculpture, and another lesser-known one related to KGB operations.
The CIA's Kryptos sculpture attained international media attention in 1999 when it was announced that the first three sections of the Kryptos code had been solved independently by
two different cryptographers. Part 4 of Kryptos remains uncracked to this day, and was what sparked the creation of the Kryptos Group in May 2003. The group currently has about 70 members from
at least four different continents, and includes cryptographers, mathematicians, game developers,
academics, and other interested hobbyists. Along with investigating the Kryptos
code itself, the group is also closely examining other elements related to
Kryptos, such as other sculptures created by artist Jim Sanborn, including the
Cyrillic Projector.