Table of Contents
Verum inveniri
Verum Inveniri announced themselves on 11th of January, via PAC investigation board.
Original letter from G+
- Hidden Info
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Messing around with the levels reveals a hidden passcode - 9ug8sculptureq8w3v
This gave the beginning to their first Access Dive.
Since then this mysterious group has sporadically showed up normally with events that either involve solving a series of puzzles, or dead drops spread world wide and even teaching us encryption techniques. While they have showed to be interested only in discovering the truth, even though their members seem to support both factions individually, a series of events starting in August 2013 began to hint at activity outside of the puzzle/dead drop events.
P. A. Chapeau went offgrid October 1, 2013, halting posts to his investigation board. On the same day, the VI posted this on their g+ feed indicating potential increased involvement in the developing storyline.
Access Dives
Due to the sheer amount of these puzzles each dive has it's own page. These so far have begun with 2 puzzles that the solution leads to the next puzzle and normally involves a metapuzzle at the end of the 2 chains.
Dead Drops
International Dead Drop Day
Text from this post
We have sent word to PAC about a series of dead drops that span the globe. Over 20 drops total to be found, and 100 scanner activation codes.
If you successfully recover a dead drop, feel free to share your proof with us. Post pics of the moment of discovery to Google+ (#deaddropday) and we will give you an extra scanner activation code to share - just be sure that any recovered intel does not fall into the wrong hands.
More posts to come…
#deaddropday #Ingress
During the day they posted several photos of locations where agents could collect an unseen storyboard (a different one in each location that contained invite codes). You can see those storyboards in here.
They also posted at the end a video where we can see the different cities used, accompanied by the the text :
International Dead Drop Day was a resounding success. Agents across the globe in 22 cities responded rapidly, cooperating to recover many of the cached assets and to share them with fellow agents.
We fight the unseen battle. Over the coming months, we hope to share with you the tools to combat the NIA. We will not back down. Are you prepared?
VI Dead Drops (855)
(+Verum Inveniri claim they came across an internal communication from the NIA. Something that should’ve been destroyed.
To protect the identity of their group and the investigative community, they are releasing them in a series of dead drops.
More details on their Google+ page.)
These ended up being coordinates for librairies over the globe. They were all assembled in this map by Enrique Zanardi.
The location of each activation code was given via the comms of ingress, giving a different book for each faction in each location
Resistance - Username was Caeruleum
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 51(091)/HIS p.54
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: HC 151 .C344 1997 p.113
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: R200.3 p.104
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 526.809 BER p.53
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 530.12 L263 es
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: NP 3200 A938 - 4 p.112
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: LS 92 CGG 001 6 p.50
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 303.483 KAKU p.122
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 539.736094 ACZ p.55
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 728 Ierley p.112
Enlightened - username was Viride
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 728,8(469)/AZE p.51
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: HB 195 .M34 2009 p.113
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 959.7043 SCH p.104
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 373.68757 KIR p.56
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 520.92 C555 on
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: NR 6750 O63 FH1 p.122
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: LS 94 FBA 530 2 p.57
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 975.2 WILL p.119
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 530.12 KUM p.56
Message relayed from Verum Inveniri: 978.1675 Liberman p.121
The collection of images from drops can be found here
All assembled we can see a order made to 855 to take care of Hubert Farlowe (the version on the bottom is an attempt of full reconstruction )
- Hidden Info
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Using the page numbers from each side, plus the title of the book that does not have a page number we can do following
Resistance
54 113 104 53 Essential Quantum Physics 112 50 122 55 112
Enlightened
51 113 104 56 On Tycho's Island 122 57 119 56 121
Doing Decimal to ASCII conversion with the numbers , and using the keywords in the titles we can get 6qh5quantump2z7p and 3qh8tychoz9w8y
- Hidden Info 2
- There are some numbers in the order form. Is this another puzzle?
Drop Plan
Drop plan initiated. Good luck.
File ID: d39df2df6cc8ff475753fdb7feb651ff
VI
The images were for dead drops in New Orleans.
Portal 1 portal 2
What was found in the portal is seen here.
- Hidden Info
Louisville
Dead drops have been discovered in Louisville.
We have received intel that the Portal “Gaslight Square Gazebo” is inaccessible and that the drop there has been removed. Please share a private post with us with photo evidence to obtain the next drop's location instead of going to this Portal.
Good luck.
VI
#DICE2014
We obtained this document through an anonymous source and were asked to publish it today. It might be related to the #DICE2014 Anomaly. We wish all Agents in the field the best of luck.
VI
- Hidden Info
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In the envelop there is a message that with a bit of reordering reads (Xs were removed but they were meant as separators)
Package reported at hard rock hotel stop held for pick up under name hank johnson stop mention dice conference to verify credentials EOM
Agents recovered a package that contained passcodes
In the envelope there is also a barcode. Reading it gives 7QRD3VOXQ663U
Replace vox with clamantis. 7qrd3clamantisq663u
#Nominus
On the 6th of March 2014 VI posted
Stand by for coordinates.
A few hours later they would announce the beginning of the #nominus deaddrops.
A detailed page of all is here
Interitus 02
Encryption lessons
Steganography
Steganography is the art of hiding messages to keep them secret.
One surprisingly effective technique used by the NIA is to hide messages in images using very low contrast. Sometimes these are visible to the naked eye, sometimes not. You can see the message for yourself by increasing the contrast and moving the brightness up or down. Use your favourite image manipulation program to do this. Try it out on the image below…
This is fairly easy to solve and it was meant as a lesson from Verum Inveniri so the solution will not be displayed here. Just use the teaching they give you. You can still find the rewards it gives in the passcode list
- Extra Info
- A previous version contained a different passcode 4qf3enlighteny5w2r
Transposition (part 1)
A transposition cipher is a cipher that works by simply shuffling the letters of the message around.
If you do this at random, you end up with an anagram.
However, if you want to reliably decode messages, you need to shuffle the letters in an ordered fashion. A simple way to do this is to write out your message in rows then read it out in columns. One favourite of the NIA is a more complex method called railfence. Write out the message in a zig-zag pattern, then read it out in rows. These ciphers are very easy to solve with pen and paper.
When you solve the example, don’t give the answer to anyone else! Share this post with your friends instead. If you need help with cryptography, come to #veruminveniri on irchighway.net to talk. http://irc.lc/irchighway/veruminveniri/VI@@@
- Hidden Info
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On the image you can see 8tsin9y3rnpstoupyeaoi2
Using a railfence of 3 we get 8ye3transpositionu2p9y
At the time something was wrong with the code and it was giving an error when validating, but the rewards were given.
Later Verum Inveniri added this comment
\ +1: Sgd zrrds qdcdloshnm bncd vnqjr, ats hs’r rhcdbgzhmdc hm sn zunhc MHZ cdsdbshnm. Sgdx gzudm’s bztfgs nm xds, ats sghr gzr sgd rhcd-deedbs sgzs sgd rbzmmdq cndr mns oqnodqkx qdonqs sgd zrrds zbpthrhshnm. Sgd knmfdq sghr rszxr nee sgdhq qzczq, sgd cddodq vd bzm chud.
Using a caeser shift of 1 we get
The asset redemption code works, but it’s sidechained in to avoid NIA detection. They haven’t caught on yet, but this has the side-effect that the scanner does not properly report the asset acquisition. The longer this stays off their radar, the deeper we can dive.
The code now shows as invalid
Transposition (part 2)
How many different ways can you shuffle letters? Lots, as it turns out! Here is a partial list of methods you might want to keep in mind:
Reversal - This one’s easy, and can usually be spotted visually.
Railfence - We looked at this in the previous post.
Boustrophedon - A fancy word for a writing system that reads left-to-right on the first line, and right-to-left on the next, and so on. The letters form a continuous snake down the page.
Transpose rows and columns - This can be as simple as reading rows as columns, or may be combined with other methods. If the number of characters doesn’t make a neat block, you can pad it to fit.
Spiral - Round and round…
Skip - Start with the first character, then skip over one (or more) characters, and continue, looping around to the beginning when you reach the end.
Columnar Transposition - Number each column, then switch them around. So, columns 1, 2, 3, 4 might become columns 2, 4, 1, 3.
We might do more detailed posts about some of these methods in the future, but the next post will be a look at cryptanalysis.
When you solve the example, don’t give the answer to anyone else! Share this post with your friends instead. If you need help with cryptography, come to #veruminveniri on irchighway.net to talk. http://irc.lc/irchighway/veruminveniri/VI@@@
This is fairly easy to solve and it was meant as a lesson from Verum Inveniri so the solution will not be displayed here. Just use the teaching they give you. You can still find the rewards it gives in the passcode list
- Extra Info
- There are several puzzles in there but they seem to solve to the same code. This seemed to be part of Verum Inveniri's April Fools joke
Transposition (part 3)
Cryptanalysis of transposition ciphers
How can you get a handle on a transposition cipher? The first thing to remember, is all the characters are still there. We have an anagram! And you can use an anagram solver to find possible words hidden in the ciphertext.
Once you have a word that you think is in there somewhere, you can look at the positions of the letters and hopefully spot the pattern that allows you to shuffle all the characters back to their correct positions.
The NIA often break one of the critical rules in cryptography, and leave clues about the key right next to the puzzle. This can make your task much easier, for example, if you know that 4 is the clue, then you might find that the cipher is railfence with 4 rails.
When you solve the example, don’t give the answer to anyone else! Share this post with your friends instead. If you need help with cryptography, come to #veruminveniri on irchighway.net to talk. http://irc.lc/irchighway/veruminveniri/VI@@@
This is fairly easy to solve and it was meant as a lesson from Verum Inveniri so the solution will not be displayed here. Just use the teaching they give you. You can still find the rewards it gives in the passcode list
Substitution (part 1)
Substitution ciphers change the value of each letter, for example A may become B, or 45, or a little picture of a smiley face ☺.
If you have the key, all you need to do is replace each symbol with the corresponding letter, and reconstruct the original message.
If you are looking for an easy introduction to the world of cryptography: this is it.
When you solve the example, don’t give the answer to anyone else! Share this post with your friends instead. If you need help with cryptography, come to #veruminveniri on irchighway.net to talk. http://webchat.irchighway.net/?channels=veruminveniri
This is fairly easy to solve and it was meant as a lesson from Verum Inveniri so the solution will not be displayed here. Just use the teaching they give you. You can still find the rewards it gives in the passcode list
IRC
IRC dump (chat with Theresa Chic)
In addition to communication via deaddrops and their g+ account, the VI use an IRC channel. They have posted screencaps of a number of IRC chat sessions. While most of the posts contain puzzles to be decoded, there is also a developing storyline running through the chat screens (see each chat below for decoding and storyline)
On the 10th of May Theresa Chic (an anagram for Cheshire Cat) had a conversation with Verum Inveniri on their channel.
- Hidden Info
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The Original string was in the Verum Inveniri IRC channel. It was ODUgPH5DTHFkPDBKUDgjQkpEMXFAPDZPNUZDZkRHMGVkUSQwZW1qIn4+
Convert base 64 to ascii and then take the ascii string to convert from base 85. Convert the binary to numbers and the kw is an anagram for statue. 2ph5statuep6p7v.
!help (u.jpg)
On the 30th of July VI posted an image of a terminal with some info on it and a link to their IRC channel
- Hidden Info
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By doing !help in the channel you would get this reply U{ ;5$A214501T9)5D534%E25$A214525$A21458 }
!help (x10c100.jpg)
On the 3r of August VI posted an image of a terminal with some info on it and a link to their IRC channel
Storyline
Mention of Field Station on radio C-100. This field station is mentioned in later posts bu the VI.
- Hidden Info
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By doing !help in the channel you would get this reply GAQQBBcWFgQQBBUEFxYEGAQQBAYEFxY=
!help (g.jpg)
On the 7th of August VI posted an image of a terminal with some info on it and a link to their IRC channel
Storyline
Introduced to the Operator and Technician. In a post made by the VI on Oct. 1, 2013 (https://plus.google.com/u/0/109846653838501599116/posts/jBayN7nUWHA), the VI reveal three names: Titan ( ), Kryptos (Technician) and Voynich (Operator)
There is a mention of receiving a message from the field station on radio C-100 and after that line the Operator mentions they hope this one is not corrupted
- Hidden Info
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By doing !help in the channel you would get this reply
(the spaces were not in the original, they are here to avoid a wiki style) R0lGODlhRQAFAIAAAAAAAP/ / / yH5BAAAAAAALAAAAABFAAUAAAI9DBCWe6i8zHnMWTllatZtj3jPVX3QGW7nKo5VCKrylWozRn45diuwjppNfjRbw8WjHTORJs4JjUpNUKajAAA7
Decoding as a base64 you would get a string that started as GIF hinting this was actually a GIF file.
Putting the hex equivalent
47 49 46 38 39 61 45 00 05 00 80 00 00 00 00 00 ff ff ff 21 f9 04 00 00 00 00 00 2c 00 00 00 00 45 00 05 00 00 02 3d 0c 10 96 7b a8 bc cc 79 cc 59 39 65 6a d6 6d 8f 78 cf 55 7d d0 19 6e e7 2a 8e 55 08 aa f2 95 6a 33 46 7e 39 76 2b b0 8e 9a 4d 7e 34 5b c3 c5 a3 1d 33 91 26 ce 09 8d 4a 4d 50 a6 a3 00 00 3b
Into a Hex editor and saving the file as a .gif, you would get this
flip it and you get 9ra7verums9s9t
!help (-i-i-i-.jpg)
On the 1st of October VI posted an image of a terminal with some info on it and a link to their IRC channel
- Hidden Info
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By doing !help in the channel you would get this reply
R0lGODlh4wADAIAAAP/ / /wAAACH5BAAAAAAALAAAAADjAA MAAAJghH8BmovvoJzUMKduxLxpmFVXSCIhdXKfVHpuinbW NgX2neGWjjP30vsBe8PgLkccFpNEJk+nDDp/U9vSekVCm1 KfUXq0dksrEc2kQqfINVnl7QadX/EHDE7H69P7WakAADs=
Decoding as a b64 to file, view as gif. transcription: ddd1uu2uu1dd2u1dddd2ddd1dddd2u1bbb2u1uuuu2uu1dd2uu1dd2u1bbbbb2uu1dd2uu1uuu2ddd1uuu2uu1uuuu2ddd1uuu2uu1dddd (d=down, u=up, b=both, 1/2=pixel gaps) pairing up (using 2 as character separator), you'll notice old passcode pattern in the 1st digits, with “ddd” for numbers, “uu” for [p-z] positions, and an “u” in [a-h] position. with ddd=3, this reeks of hex. for hex we need 6's and 7's. the longest streak of marks is 5 (in bbbbb), so let's try d..ddddd=[1-5], u..uuuuu=[6-a], b..bbbbb=[b-f]: 37 72 64 34 6d 69 72 72 6f 72 78 38 79 38 74 7rd4mirrorx8y8t
Other
Asemic message
On the 22nd of October a different VI account shared this image
- Hidden Info
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It's title was a hint to this WotD which in turn was a hint to the this part_6_-_klue_-_epiphanyold puzzle that used the same font .
Translated it reads
to 622 6e8nti w8d6r8
ty8 6e8nvh si on to ui
to 6cosb
b8t8vtson
d8 r8mu8it 622 voqqi to
w8 8nvrhpt8b kroq
nod on to pr8c8nt
ys96v4i
8oq
Using a logic replacement on the letters that are wrong you end up getting
To all agents beware
The agency is on to us
to avoid
detection
we request all comms to
be encrypted from
now to prevent
hijacks
EOM
also putting the swapped characters in order like this
abcdefghijklm
you get
6wvb8keys942q
Key is a hint to replace with the lonely word in a line - detection
6wvb8detections942q
Stand By
On the 5th of March 2014 they posted
We've got something. Stand by.
- Hidden Info
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The audio is a SSTV transmission. Doing it as robot at 24 B/W you get the following image
s8iv5
z.M7e
nord4
Interitus
Starting on the 11th of April VI did a series of posts that seem to be related to the begining of the anomalies of Interitus
June 2014 Nemesis Film Dead Drop
A dead drop containing a roll of film was found by an agent. When developed it contained images of a document. See here for information on the images. Nemesis posted about the dead drop using the VI account actually created the dead drop. See also this post
