The Steemit Crypto Challenge #11 - CC2k17.2

the-future (68) · 7 years ago

C2H2 = Acetylene, C2H4 = Ethylene, C2H6 = Ethane ? :D

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

No, no, no :) you guys miss something. Have a look at the first image. The one with the logo

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the-future (68) · 7 years ago

That's anonymous mask! The group of hackers!

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Use photoshop

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j3dy (60) · 7 years ago

yeah now that you mention it, there is some .. __ :D .. .... . . ._. ...

........... :D wow this looks awesome I should use it more often

._ ._ .... . . ._. ... !!! if only they didn't hide so strangely hint it's not aa in the start :D start with a C :)

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eric-boucher (68) · 7 years ago

I'm a bit of a manic when it comes to solving these... I keep gong till I find the answer. I don't know if I should get into it as I'm not sure I have enough time. but the game looks absolutely awesome!!! I love it!
Thanks for hosting this and namaste :)

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4 votes

tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago (edited)

( ╹◡╹)っ━━☆ :｡☆｡:.｡:Ben Swann｡:･☆･*☆ ｡

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furion (70) · 7 years ago (edited)

Hey guys. I apologize, I forgot about this puzzle for a few days.

Decrypted hint2 reveals:

Reverse google search says its Actinomycin-D, link

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4 votes

timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Bingo! You are right and made it! Congratulation

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furion (70) · 7 years ago

This puzzle has been solved collectively by steemians.
Big thanks to everyone for participating, I am looking forward to the next one.

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4 votes

tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

If you guys have time I would love to see a walk through of the last two hints and the final decryption. I have never worked a puzzle, let alone a crypto, like this before, thank you this was really fun. I got hung up with the bonds in hint two, than I realized after that I had no idea what I was doing when it came to decryption, even if I would have had the password. I have a lot of experience with PGP for email but nothing like this. Loved it! I want to get better and advice or linked tutorial would be awesome!

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j3dy (60) · 7 years ago

finally :D

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awakeningartist (66) · 7 years ago

How did you decrypt it? How did that lead to this ?

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furion (70) · 7 years ago (edited)

Ok, I think I may have a grip on hint2.
The string is comprised of hex part, a few random characters (salt) and base64 part.
I thinkEnCt2 means Encrypted Cipertext 2, irrelevant.
Then we have a SHA-1, 34eec5006fba77efa79febc136a5d9ccc1ea9f66, which starts repeating itself (padding to sha256 size).
Then we have a random part, tL=iqshH, which is used by hashing function (pbkdf2_hmac) as salt.
Lastly we have the ciphertext, sgIxIOZm0lgb/kyoe4AN7tsp1O5EqUkKwPsCG2Mv+fudbW1FmVRXycQXoZeI3NgoJwCXyi8ztg==, which is Base64 encoded output of a 256bit AES in MODE_CTR. We want to crack this part.

I wrote a little python script to decrypt it, but now we need a password, which is either in hint1, or some other hint in the puzzle.

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5 votes

j3dy (60) · 7 years ago

try numbers maybe, thanks for doing that :) cryptography is fun after all :) who is ben swann btw :D
30 @digicrypt/36 @jaki01 is what people have counted below, the morse code says count the bonds @digicrypt,

so amount and type of bonds, x,y,z triple double single so one triple, two doubles, 15 so infinity dunno

Fuck it I'm out of hints and so flew my hopes :D good luck guys :) Anonocon :D 2017 :D

digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

Ben Swann is a TV journalist who gained notoriety for covering "alternative" news and challening MSM narratives. That is the only Ben Swann I know off.

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Best comment so far

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jaki01 (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

My previous count of 36 bonds is wrong because at first I thought the red color was a hint that there was a mistake in the molecule, so that I made another molecule out of it.
No, if the molecules are sketched correctly, we have altogether 34 bonds:

X = N₂ and has 3 bonds (0 single bonds, 0 double bonds and 1 triple bond).
Y = 1,3-Cyclohexadiene (C₆H₈) and has 16 bonds (12 single bonds, 2 double bonds and 0 triple bonds).
Z = benzene (C₆H₆) and has 15 bonds (9 single bonds, 3 double bonds and 0 triple bonds).
That are altogether 34 bonds (21 single bonds, 5 double bonds and 1 triple bond).
I come to a higher number of bonds than @digicrypt because everywhere in Y, where you see a H₂, there are 2 bonds, because every H atom has exactly 1 bond.

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j3dy (60) · 7 years ago

well timsaid the password is in the counts furion has the "box" you have the key, any hints mate :) can either of you open the pass with either 1215 or 3415 dunno the exact idea behind the count, but he did say it was simple and 1215 sounds simple :D

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

On point! Sweet :) the password is given within hint 1

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

Will this be a strange random numeric key or password generated when our answer was? If not have we tried the type of bond(s)? Maybe something like nonpolarcovalenthydrogen or? I am clumsy with the AES 256 been trying to crack. Should be working the whole string or just the section mentioned by @furion?

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Hint 3: X = number of tripple bonds, Y = number of double bonds Z = number of single bonds

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digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

My morse code is a bit rusty but I think it says

C O U N T T H E B O N D S

My chemistry is awful but I believe the bonds would be 3 12 15 Total=30

Am I barking up the right tree?

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5 votes

timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Going into the right direction

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jaki01 (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

As @digicrypt wrote, the morse code is C O U N T T H E B O N D S.

But the number of bonds is different in my opinion:

X = N₂ has 3 bonds.
Z = C₆H₆ (benzene) has 15 bonds.
But Y is just sketched wrong: it should be cyclohexane (C₆H₁₂) with altogether 18 bonds.
The sum would be 36 in this case.

jaki01 (74) · 7 years ago

Not to be misleading, and as I wrote already in my other comment, the molecule Y need not to be drawn wrong (it's 1,3-Cyclohexadiene) - I think the red color is used to point out which kind of bonds we shall count. Probably we have to count all double bonds (and if not, then all multiple bonds: double and triple bonds).

digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

The first molecule is Nitrogen with a triple bond. The triple bond is very strong and Nitrogen is referred to an inert gas.

timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Much truth in these words

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the-future (68) · 7 years ago

Ethylene is a hydrocarbon which has the formula C2H4! Is that the name you are looking for? Ethylene?

digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

Z is a benzene molecule

timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

There is more. There is something hidden

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ssekulji (74) · 7 years ago

like it

timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Solve it and the prize is yours!

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digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

My morse code is a bit rusty but I think it says

C O U N T T H E B O N D S

digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago (edited)

My chemistry is awful but I believe it would be 3 12 15 Total=30

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digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

@timsaid I actually have run a few cryptography challenges on my blog, easier than yours, you have inspired me to make my third more difficult! You should give it a try next time, i would like to see if you are as good at solving as you are at creating ;)
https://steemit.com/life/@digicrypt/cryptography-challenge-2
The way I actually heard about your challenge was from one of my followers @raymonjohnstone who thought I might like it because of my challenges. I do like it, it is a very cool, well planned challenge keep up the good work! :)

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furion (70) · 7 years ago

Is usage of red color in Y chemical a hint?

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jaki01 (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

I don't know, but I think so, because if you have double bonds in a ring of six C atoms, then it is normally aromatic. That means you have three double bonds (to be exact, actually six delocalized π-electrons in one circular electron cloud), or you have heteroatoms (like N or O) in the ring.
If none of the above is the case the ring should only contain single bonds like in case of cyclohexane.

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digicrypt (60) · 7 years ago

I was also thrown off by that...

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jaki01 (74) · 7 years ago (edited)

... and I think I was wrong yesterday night (maybe it was already too late to think clearly :), because the molecule Y is obviously 1,3-Cyclohexadiene, thus of course it need not to be sketched wrongly.
In this case the red color doesn't point out at any mistake, but that it is not a single bond.
It is possible that we should count the double bonds, or otherwise all bonds which are not single bonds (all multiple bonds).

timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Hot

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furion (70) · 7 years ago

The original image is here. The red highlight is there for teaching purposes, and likely irrelevant when taken out of context (in this puzzle).

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Little hint: the amount and type of bond counts

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j3dy (60) · 7 years ago

Resteemed since I like cicada 3301 :)

Cicada 3301: The Sacred Book of Liber Primus

for the weak in heart, go watch cicada and read up, you will find many many hints :)

also here is a book of wisdom and insanity, personal opinion :) still a great one, and the song is a favorite of mine, truly enlightening :) best guitar on par only with estas tonne, who is a great musician it seems, alright :) Cheers for the challenge, I think I can't fare well since I have no xp :D

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

#131211 is hex color _(ツ)_/...still working.

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

binary= 000100110001001000010001

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

Nope! Getting closer look at the extra "P" in "trippel. We can eX-trapolate from there P2-N2!

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

actually 2 extra P's in both spellings

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

extra p's make this NO3?

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

It's just about the bonds

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

2 Pi bonds :) x=2

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timsaid (74) · 7 years ago

Read the new update :)

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tsmykowski (46) · 7 years ago

arrrg! If I am going down the right path here we should be looking at the number of Sigma and pi bonds. Looks like there are 12 sigama and 3 pi bonds. Sigma's are single bonds. xyz=1212?

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