Message 10 - (228) 702-0304
For Mein Fraulein
Mein Fraulein,
I regret the burden I have placed upon you. Confer with me once again on the river's west bank, and I will take you home. Call me.
///228///702///0304///
Group 254
07508 20770 80086 06906 70710
83070 06506 70760 74085 06907
20710 80073 07209 00760 82074
08408 80790 78079 09007 90730
72086 07708 60800 86079 07607
20790 81073 07308 80870 74074
08007 90880 87065 07107 80790
86072
Decryption:
Congratulations to ToT for winning the DEFCON Mein Fraulein crypto challenge. They solved the code after a marathon 16 hour and 20 minute session.
The code was a Vigenère cipher.
The hint given both at DEFCON and in the html comments of this page was "When DEFCON is on-line, there is no HOPE." This was a reference to how to form the Vigenère square used to decrypt the message.
By converting the group numbers from decimal to ASCII the following ciphertext would be revealed:
KRMPVECGSFACLJUEHGPIHZLRJTXONOZOIHVMVPVOLHOQIIXWJJPOXWAGNOVH
Next, the correct Vigenère square had to be created to decipher the message. First, the word 'DEFCON' was used to offset the standard alphabet:
DEFCONABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZ
Then the Vigenère square was formed by ordering the alphabets with the phrase 'THERE IS NO HOPE':
TUVWXYZDEFCONABGHIJKLMPQRS
HIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZDEFCONABG
EFCONABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZD
RSTUVWXYZDEFCONABGHIJKLMPQ
EFCONABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZD
IJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZDEFCONABGH
STUVWXYZDEFCONABGHIJKLMPQR
NABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZDEFCO
ONABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZDEFC
HIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZDEFCONABG
ONABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZDEFC
PQRSTUVWXYZDEFCONABGHIJKLM
EFCONABGHIJKLMPQRSTUVWXYZD
When this square was used to decipher the message it became:
TINYURL DOT COM SLASH F SEVEN W SEVEN Y USER FRAULEIN PASS SCHADENFREUDE
This in turn redirected to a login page on the LA2600.org website where the winner could log in to claim credit.
Project Evil thanks everyone who participated in the challenge. Without you, the world would be a much less interesting place, and we wouldn't have any fun.