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> Why haven't FBI analysts done the same already? Because the FBI probably has few or no professional cryptographers. It's possible it could've been solved in

> Why haven't FBI analysts done the same already? Because the FBI probably has few or no professional cryptographers. It's possible it could've been solved in a couple of days by the resources in-house at the NSA. To clarify, I mean they probably have few people who spend time working on the math of crypto. They have lots of people who obviously know how to apply forensic software tools written by others to seized equipment.

Apocryphon 6y ago
While I don't think these other agencies would have been as interested as pursuing a decades-old cold case as a law enforcement effort, I could imagine that other orgs with codebreakers might try it as a side project or even a recreational diversion, much like trying to decrypt the Kryptos sculpture. Individual analysts from the CIA, DIA, NIST, even foreign ones like the GCHQ, DGSE, Unit 8200, etc. could have tried to decipher the messages, in addition to the FBI. Surely they have the capacity to break this code, if they were inclined to spend some extra time on it. It's not as if these agencies don't recruit from people who already love solving puzzles in their free time.
- exdsq 6y ago
  GCHQ have published two puzzle books in the UK and one of them definitely referred to the Zodiac Ciphers, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was a hobby project of a few of them. I do strongly believe if someone had previously solved it they'd have released it though -- there's nothing damaging in these texts.
adrianmonk 6y ago
The article makes reference to the "FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit". They appear to have people on staff who do exactly this kind of work. From the FBI's web page (https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/scientific-analysis/cryptanalysis-racketeering https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/scientific-analysis/...): > The Team > Cryptanalysts and cryptanalyst forensic examiners. ... > Cryptanalysis > Decrypt manual codes and ciphers found in letters, notes, diaries, ledgers, and other types of written or electronic communications. Common users of codes include foreign and domestic terrorists, organized crime, gangs, prison inmates, and violent criminals.

Apocryphon 6y ago

While I don't think these other agencies would have been as interested as pursuing a decades-old cold case as a law enforcement effort, I could imagine that other orgs with codebreakers might try it as a side project or even a recreational diversion, much like trying to decrypt the Kryptos sculpture. Individual analysts from the CIA, DIA, NIST, even foreign ones like the GCHQ, DGSE, Unit 8200, etc. could have tried to decipher the messages, in addition to the FBI. Surely they have the capacity to break this code, if they were inclined to spend some extra time on it. It's not as if these agencies don't recruit from people who already love solving puzzles in their free time.

exdsq 6y ago
GCHQ have published two puzzle books in the UK and one of them definitely referred to the Zodiac Ciphers, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was a hobby project of a few of them. I do strongly believe if someone had previously solved it they'd have released it though -- there's nothing damaging in these texts.

adrianmonk 6y ago

The article makes reference to the "FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit". They appear to have people on staff who do exactly this kind of work. From the FBI's web page (https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/scientific-analysis/cryptanalysis-racketeering https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/scientific-analysis/...): > The Team > Cryptanalysts and cryptanalyst forensic examiners. ... > Cryptanalysis > Decrypt manual codes and ciphers found in letters, notes, diaries, ledgers, and other types of written or electronic communications. Common users of codes include foreign and domestic terrorists, organized crime, gangs, prison inmates, and violent criminals.