# Martin 2014: Cicada 3301: the mystery keeping cryptologists awake at night

> Keith Martin, 2014. 8 records on Mysteries Department cite it. The named cryptographer's assessment of what the puzzles test.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0D7R6TXY49WN/cicada-3301-the-mystery-keeping-cryptologists-awake-at-night  
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Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)Martin 2014

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# Cicada 3301: the mystery keeping cryptologists awake at night

Keith Martin, 2014. _The Conversation, 1 January 2014_.

A professor of information security at Royal Holloway assesses the puzzles: they need hands-on internet skills (file formats, networking, anonymity services), general knowledge and only Crypto 101 ciphers and comfort with prime numbers; he lists the theories (intelligence recruitment, a technology company, a secret society, a game).

**Cicada 3301** Web pagedoi: **[10.64628/AA.dpukmvtmf](https://doi.org/10.64628/AA.dpukmvtmf)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

The named cryptographer's assessment of what the puzzles test.

## Cited by on this site 8 records

[A membership test for an esoteric secret society.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R728A63XB/a-membership-test-for-an-esoteric-secret-society)

Answer

ANS

[An alternate-reality game or marketing campaign for a company or product.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/answers/ANS0D7R71RP4Z2D/an-alternate-reality-game-or-marketing-campaign-for-a)

Answer

ANS

[Martin calls it the most unlikely explanation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R72G47QN8/martin-calls-it-the-most-unlikely-explanation)

Evidence

EVD

[The puzzles emphasise anonymity tools, file formats and networking rather than advanced cryptography.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R70HM6M0C/the-puzzles-emphasise-anonymity-tools-file-formats-and)

Evidence

EVD

[The puzzles test internet skills and general knowledge more than cryptography.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/evidence/EVD0D7R71GW5P0Z/the-puzzles-test-internet-skills-and-general-knowledge-more)

Evidence

EVD

[Keith Martin](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/people/FIG0D7R6WMM3QMJ/keith-martin)

FIG

[Cicada 3301](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301)

The mystery article

MYS

[Who set the Cicada 3301 puzzles, and why?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/cicada-3301/questions/QST0D7R6Z2R63QN/who-set-the-cicada-3301-puzzles-and-why)

Question

QST

## Cite it

```
Martin, K. (2014). Cicada 3301: the mystery keeping cryptologists awake at night. The Conversation, 1 January 2014. https://doi.org/10.64628/AA.dpukmvtmf
```

[Read it free at theconversation.com](https://theconversation.com/cicada-3301-the-mystery-keeping-cryptologists-awake-at-night-21407)

Key

**SRC** 0D7R6TXY49WN

Kind

Web page

Rights

CC-BY-ND-4.0

Kept

29 Oct 2026, for editors

Checked

Against the published original

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

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