Military Officer - August 2006 - (Page 64)

Brown’s next thriller. In this case, he’s the one who could use a clue. Despite the author’s undeniable interest in Kryptos and the artist’s repeated attempts to contact him, the two have never spoken. “I don’t mind that the audience has been widened,” Sanborn says of the added exposure his work has enjoyed, but he adds, “I would like to be recognized as the source of some of the material.” You can almost see the mental shake he gives himself before continuing. “You can’t whine too much about it — it certainly does give name recognition,” he says. “It would just be nicer … if I could say that at least I’d met the man.” Elonka Dunin, a professional game developer, amateur cryptographer, EMUFPHZLRFAXYUSDJKZLDKRNSHGNFIVJ YQTQUXQBQVYUVLLTREVJYQTMKYRDMFD VFPJUDEEHZWETZYVGWHKKQETGFQJNCE GGWHKK?DQMCPFQZDQMMIAGPFXHQRLG TIMVMZJANQLVKQEDAGDVFRPJUNGEUNA QZGZLECGYUXUEENJTBJLBQCRTBJDFHRR YIZETKZEMVDUFKSJHKFWHKUWQLSZFTI HHDDDUVH?DWKBFUFPWNTDFIYCUQZERE EVLDKFEZMOQQJLTTUGSYQPFEUNLAVIDX FLGGTEZ?FKZBSFDQVGOGIPUFXHHDRKF FHQNTGPUAECNUVPDJMQCLQUMUNEDFQ ELZZVRRGKFFVOEEXBDMVPNFQXEZLGRE DNQFMPNZGLFLPMRJQYALMGNUVPDXVKP DQUMEBEDMHDAFMJGZNUPLGEWJLLAETG ENDYAHROHNLSRHEOCPTEOIBIDYSHNAIA CHTNREYULDSLLSLLNOHSNOSMRWXMNE TPRNGATIHNRARPESLNNELEBLPIIACAE WMTWNDITEENRAHCTENEUDRETNHAEOE TFOLSEDTIWENHAEIOYTEYQHEENCTAYCR EIFTBRSPAMHHEWENATAMATEGYEERLB TEEFOASFIOTUETUAEOTOARMAEERTNRTI BSEDDNIAAHTTMSTEWPIEROAGRIEWFEB AECTDDHILCEIHSITEGOEAOSDDRYDLORIT RKLMLEHAGTDHARDPNEOHMGFMFEUHE ECDMRIPFEIMEHNLSSTTRTVDOHW?OBKR UOXOGHULBSOLIFBBWFLRVQQPRNGKSSO TWTQSJQSSEKZZWATJKLUDIAWINFBNYP VTTMZFPKWGDKZXTJCDIGKUHUAUEKCAR The missing x h ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD AKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYP BRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPT CYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTO DPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOS ETOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSA FOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSAB GSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABC HABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCD IBCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDE JCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEF KDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFG LEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGH MFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHI NGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJL OHIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJL PIJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLM QJLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMN RLMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQ SMNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQU TNQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUV UQUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVW VUVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWX WVWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZ XWXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZK YXZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKR ZZKRYPTOSABCDEFGHIJLMNQUVWXZKRY ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCD No one is perfect. Period. James Sanborn has mastered the medium of sculpture, but when it comes to the art of cryptography, he might need a little more practice. Earlier this year, the artist announced the encoded text on the Kryptos sculpture contains a mistake. For aesthetic purposes, Sanborn had deleted an x from near the end of a line in section K2 of the sculpture. The character signified a break at the end of a phrase, like a period at the end of a sentence. He did not realize that removing it would change the solution. The mistake came to his attention when he was working on material for a book about the Kryptos challenge and the attention it has received. To err is, of course, human. To forgive was a divine opportunity for The Kryptos Group, an online team of cryptologists and interested hobbyists. They quickly deciphered the revised text and were rewarded with direct confirmation of their efforts from the normally reticent artist. 64 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2006 and moderator of an online Kryptos discussion group, says that best-seller connection has generated increased interest in the sculpture. “Kryptos is one of the most famous unsolved codes in the world,” she says. Dunin is one of the few people outside the agency to have seen Sanborn’s sculpture. Because of its location, public access is extremely restricted. Dunin got her break when she was invited to Langley to give a presentation about steganography, a method of encryption. She encountered two red granite outcroppings that greet employees at the entrance to the headquarters building. Copper sheets between the slabs of stone are inscribed with text encrypted in Morse code. A lodestone, or naturally magnetized rock, and a compass dial are nearby. “When you go inside,” Sanborn says, “there are two other sections: One is the famous Kryptos sculpture screen, and the other one is a contemplative pool of water with another stone outcropping. “If you were to see this from the air, the stone outcroppings actually line up with each other, so it appears that the agency was built on top of a line of granite stones that had been there for eons,” Sanborn explains. “I thought it might put their work into a larger context.” Dunin would love another look, as she’s developed a theory she’d like to test. “My feeling as to why the code has not been cracked yet — the No. 1 reason — is that it’s small. It’s 97 or 98 characters,” she says, referring to the fourth and ﬁnal encrypted passage. “Codes are cracked by looking for patterns in the way that the letters are arranged,” she explains, “With something that tiny … it’s very, very difﬁcult to ﬁnd any patterns. My belief is that it’s going to be solved not by hard cryptoanalysis but by an idea that’s going to come out of left ﬁeld. Someone may just get lucky and solve it.” MO IMAGE CONTENT: COURTESY ELONKA DUNIN

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - August 2006

Military Officer - August 2006 Contents From the Editor President’s Page Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapter Activities Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Changing of the Guard Four-Star Rating Long Term Care Kryptogram Pages of History Information Exchange MOAA Scholarship Donors Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2006

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.