Kryptos
Kryptos is a sculpture by American artist Jim Sanborn located on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters, the George Bush Center for Intelligence, in Langley, Virginia. Dedicated on November 3, 1990, it features four encrypted messages, most using a Vigenère cipher with the keyword “Kryptos.” The first three messages have been solved, but the fourth remains one of the world’s most famous unsolved codes. The sculpture continues to attract interest from both amateur and professional cryptanalysts. Sanborn has also hinted that a fifth coded message will reveal itself after the first four are solved, and he has given four clues to the fourth passage.
1991 © Jim Sanborn · CC BY-SA 3.0
January 2012 © Kryptos01_1.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
January 2012 © Kryptos01_1,_background_removed.png · CC BY-SA 3.0
© Carol M. Highsmith · Public domain
Identification | |
| Title | Kryptos |
| Type | sculpture with encrypted text |
| Original-language name | Криптос |
Creator | |
| Artist | Jim Sanborn |
| Artist nationality | American |
| Collaborator | Ed Scheidt, retired head of the CIA communications office and former CIA cryptographer |
Historical context | |
| Theme | intelligence gathering |
| Name meaning | Greek for "hidden" or "secret" |
| Installation period | Work began in 1989 and continued until November 1990 |
| Unveiling date | 3 November 1990 |
Discovery and provenance | |
| Commissioned/assisted by | Ed Scheidt assisted Sanborn because Sanborn lacked sufficient knowledge of cryptography |
| Cost | $250,000 |
Physical characteristics | |
| Lower section | large pieces of granite at the base forming a small fountain or bubbling pool |
| Main form | a large vertical S-shaped copper plate resembling a scroll or paper emerging from a printer |
Materials | |
| Main materials | copper, granite, petrified wood, white quartz, red and green slate, magnetite ore, and reinforced concrete |
| Inscription material | letters cut out of copper plates |
Technique | |
| Ciphertext alphabet | the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet and question marks |
Appearance | |
| Inscription structure | four sections |
| Total number of characters | 865 |
| Copper sheet thickness | 13 mm |
| Alphabet table | an alphabet table based on the word "KRYPTOS" appears on the other side of the sculpture |
Iconography and meaning | |
| Fourth message significance | one of the world's most famous unsolved ciphers |
| Unsolved message | The fourth message remains unsolved; in November 2010 Sanborn revealed that letters 64-69, NYPVTT, mean BERLIN |
| Solved message 3 source | A quotation, with spelling errors, from Howard Carter's 1923 book The Tomb of Tutankhamun, describing the tomb of Tutankhamun |
| Solved message 3 | "SLOWLY DESPARATLY SLOWLY THE REMAINS OF PASSAGE DEBRIS THAT ENCUMBERED THE LOWER PART OF THE DOORWAY WAS REMOVED WITH TREMBLING HANDS I MADE A TINY BREACH IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER AND THEN WIDENING THE HOLE A LITTLE I INSERTED THE CANDLE AND PEERED IN THE HOT AIR ESCAPING FROM THE CHAMBER CAUSED THE FLAME TO FLICKER BUT PRESENTLY DETAILS OF THE ROOM WITHIN EMERGED FROM THE MIST X CAN YOU SEE ANYTHING Q (?)" |
| Solved message 2 correction | In 2006, the Yahoo! Kryptos Group corrected solution 2 after Jim Sanborn revealed there was still an error |
| Solved message 2 | "IT WAS TOTALLY INVISIBLE HOWS THAT POSSIBLE ? THEY USED THE EARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD X THE INFORMATION WAS GATHERED AND TRANSMITTED UNDERGRUUND TO AN UNKNOWN LOCATION X DOES LANGLEY KNOW ABOUT THIS ? THEY SHOULD ITS BURIED OUT THERE SOMEWHERE X WHO KNOWS THE EXACT LOCATION ? ONLY WW THIS WAS HIS LAST MESSAGE X THIRTY EIGHT DEGREES FIFTY SEVEN MINUTES SIX POINT FIVE SECONDS NORTH SEVENTY SEVEN DEGREES EIGHT MINUTES FORTY FOUR SECONDS WEST X LAYER TWO" |
| Solved message 1 | "BETWEEN SUBTLE SHADING AND THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT LIES THE NUANCE OF IQLUSION" |
| Ciphertext keywords | Palimpsest, Abscissa, and PRISMA |
| Cipher used | most of the messages use a Vigenère cipher with the keyword "Kryptos"; each message apparently uses a different cipher |
| Encrypted messages | four encrypted messages |
| Solved messages | the first three messages have been solved; the fourth remains unsolved |
Location and ownership | |
| Location | Northwest corner of the courtyard of the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, United States, outside the cafeteria |
| Associated institution | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) |
| Other installation elements | granite slabs with copper sheets, Morse-code messages, a compass rose, a landscaped garden area, a fish pond or reflecting pool, benches, and other stone pieces |
History and restoration | |
| Method used by David Stein | paper and pencil |
| Auction of K4 key | In 2010, Sanborn said the key to the last section, K4, would be sold at auction; it was acquired by an anonymous buyer for $962,500 |
| Security incident during construction | Before completion, enthusiasts tried to break into Sanborn's workshop and photograph Kryptos |
| NSA announcement date | 2000 |
| NSA team solution date | 1992 |
| NSA involvement | The NSA announced that several of its analysts had decoded the same portion; the team was led by Ken Miller and included Dennis McDaniels |
| Gillogly's result | He decoded 869 characters, leaving 97 remaining |
| David Stein's solution date | 1990 |
| CIA analyst who solved the same section | David Stein |
| First public solution announcement date | 1993 |
| First public solver | James Gillogly |
| Public interest | the sculpture has prompted speculation and attracts amateur and professional cryptanalysts |
| Decipherment attempts | decoding attempts have continued since the sculpture was unveiled, involving CIA staff, FBI staff, the NSA, and other cryptanalysts |
Significance | |
| Notability | the fourth section is one of the most famous unsolved problems in cryptography |
| Use/role | it has become a point of reflection, exchange, and distraction for CIA employees and other cryptanalysts |
Other | |
| Total characters in solved portion | 869 |
| Remaining undeciphered characters | 97 |