What is it? Is there more to it than just a bit of nerdy fun…?

Puzzles and games for enthusiasts is nothing new, and dates back hundreds of years. I modern times, however, corporations and spy agencies have deployed riddles into the public sphere as ‘hiring filters’ to snag promising talent. Advert s in newspapers, magazines and online, messages on billboards – all these have been used by Silicon Valley tech firms, CIA, GCHQ and MI5.

Is Cicada 3301 such a tool?

When released on to notorious hacker hangout internet forum 4CHAN.org in January 2012, on a discussion board about the paranormal, with the message: “We are looking for highly intelligent individuals.” Interest in Cicada quickly cascaded, as users were led across the web, as well as the globe, from one clue to the next, but few knew much about who was behind the Cicada enigma. It’s now running an annual cycle of this elaborate code-cracking competition.

Is it really the ultimate game for super nerds and amateur cryptographers, or is the whole operation an elaborate cover for an operation. The sleight of hand, of ‘now you see it, now you don’t', springs to mind here. Nothing exists by accident and without explanation – and nothing exists without a funding source behind it.

Continue reading at:  http://21stcenturywire.com/2014/01/14/spook-recruiting-101-what-is-...