Department of Cryptology

Website: http://crypto.perplexcityacademy.com/

Subsite: http://crypto.perplexcityacademy.com/alberti.php

Information Site: http://www.perplexcityacademy.com/departments-crypt.html

Backdoor Filesystem: http://events.perplexcity.com/gateway/commandinterface/index.html

See Also: Backdoor and Backdoor Primer

General

The department of cryptology, within The Academy, covers areas of discrete mathematics, number theory, information theory, statistics, steganography, security engineering, linguistics and emergent decryption. The department uses some of the most advanced and powerful computers in Perplex City and works closely with other departments including Department of Mathematics and Logic, Department of Natural Sciences and Department of Languages. Recent studies have centred on complete end-to-end security using quantum processes and exploring how information might be delivered, encrypted and decrypted by the brain.

• Senior Fellow of Cryptology: Professor Hunan Mansoor
• Adjunct senior fellows: Iolana Dervent, Raiza Czenechovsky
• Public event speaker: Dr Cho Yuan

Alpha Beta Gamma Delta

There are a number of pages ranging from alpha to gama; all are lightly encoded, and read as follows:

Announcements The Department has begun registration for its annual conference, De/Cipher, to be held on Academy grounds 2-6 October. The conference covers a wide range of topics, from the latest cutting-edge avenues of research, to business models and concerns, to ethical and legal considerations. Currently enrolled students are highly encouraged to contact their advisors in order to take advantage of free registration. Congratulations to the Department Wheel team, which took first place in this term's inter-departmental competition! The final match, against the Department of Natural Sciences, was a close 3-2 victory during extra time. Nominations are currently being accepted for this year's Saunion Prize. If there is a student you feel significantly improved the level of discourse and educational experience for other students, please submit a nominating form to the office of the Senior Fellow. Due to reliability and performance problems, the WHISK array's existing time slots have been reassigned. If you had a WHISK session scheduled, please contact the lab manager to find out what your new time slot will be.

Council Cooperative Agreement The Academy Department of Cryptology has an agreement with the City Council of Perplex City to share information and discoveries relevant to the safe and smooth operation of the city. From time to time, the Department's research results in knowledge that would threaten the security of our economic and military institutions, were it to become public knowledge. Under the terms of our agreement, the Council permits absolutely unfettered research, while holding all affiliated with the department to an ethical standard that requires discrete and prompt disclosure of relevant algorithms and technology. Nonetheless, under the terms of our agreement, the department operates primarily to benefit the people and businesses of the city, and not the government. We choose not to participate in government-instigated research or applications that threaten the privacy of the individual Perplexian. After all, everyone is entitled to a secret; even if it's just an excessive affection for harbonnes.

Why Cryptology? Cryptology is, simply put, the lifeblood of Perplex City. The Academy Department of Cryptology has its roots deeply entwined with civic and economic advancement. From banking to communications, our modern lifestyle relies heavily on the peace of mind that cryptologic research gives to every single citizen. Here at the Academy, we don't just study cryptology; we define it. Whatever program you participate in, you will be sure to encounter the finest minds in the discipline, and you will be given the tools to conduct research that was barely at the edge of imagination a mere ten years ago. No other cryptological department in the world offers such a breathtaking opportunity. During their time at the Department, our students also get to deepen their understanding by considering real-world problems and applications and participate in internships and consultancies with a broad range of interests, from the PCBC and Centrifuge to the City Council, or even the Earth. Whether it's Porta's proof of the Panton Theorem or Leckworthy's analysis of the Earth-Perplex City data link, each student is sure to find a compelling challenge. Alumni of the Department have gone on to illustrious careers in research and business -- or both. Our own Master of the Academy, Sente Kiteway, famously embarked on a stellar academic career before making his fortune at Centrifuge, and was Senior Fellow of the Department for 11 years before he was elected Master. Though few individuals achieve the exceptional success of Master Kiteway, many of our students go on to very successful careers indeed; Walter Cove-Houghton, who took a degree in the Department in 230, has stood for the PCBC as CTO and CEO after a successful consulting career; legendary Centrifuge researcher and now entrepreneur Gregory Dempsey was a 222 graduate; and City Council Member Kyra Anghanda had a very influential academic career, most notably devising the simplest algorithm ever created for creating and decoding the Olverton-Crane Scramble, before leaving her Adjunct Senior Fellow spot for politics in 257.

Faculty & Lecturer information Senior Fellow: Professor Hunan Mansoor Adjunct Senior Fellows: Iolana Dervent, Raiza Czenechovsky Discrete Mathematics & Number Theory Program Director: Camden Porta Faculty: Boris Farmer, Paula Daffin, Neville Clark, Rowan Ashford* Guest Lecturers: Beverly Pleury, Tomas Parmele*, Kasia Yeo, Jonathan Ripken** ** Jonathan Ripken on consultancy from Perplex City Armed Forces Information Theory Program Director: Angelica Chappe Faculty: Elena Salaizes, Idola Friedberg, Helen Carrick, Samuel Leckworthy Guest Lecturers: Robert Vasquez, Tanita Champion Steganography Program Director: Hubert Wolfe Faculty: Oscar Rudolph*, Johann Stanton Guest Lecturers: Lucy Camber**, Jeanette Alles, Fabrizio Cupertine ** Lucy Camber on consultancy from Genovix Systems Security Engineering Program Directors: Vera Bradshore and Klaus Inman Faculty: Juanita Tian, Diana Cove-Houghton, Deborah Fowler**, Mark Wooster, Harold Coupland Guest Lecturers: Chester Young, Rupert Scryer, Paiva Levenay, Douglas Gatlin**, Frederick Nuru, Wednesday Mittwoch ** Deborah Fowler on consultancy from Centrifuge, Douglas Gatlin on consultancy from the Perplex City Banking Corporation Linguistics Program Director: Shannon Kerckoffs Faculty: Anniulke Kaplan, Brandon Powell*, Gabriel Geiger Guest Lecturers: Johann Longhi*, Lacey Lee, Zachary Skipover Emergent Decryption Program Director: Lucas Bazeries Faculty: Gaius Trabal, Karen Moro, Daniel Crowley, Laura Fanning, Jack Beech Guest Lecturers: Haifa Hathaway, Abigail Cienega, Scott Seneca, Rupert Gomes, Evita Song Cross-Departmental Agreements * This mark indicates personnel who are formally affiliated with another department but still hold a position within the Department of Cryptology. Some programs are closely aligned with other departments, though the programs remain housed within the Department of Cryptology. These programs share resources and personnel from both departments. The Discrete Mathematics and Number Theory program works with the Department of Mathematics and Logic; the Steganography program works with the Department of Arts; and the Linguistics program naturally works with the Department of Languages.

Epsilon

These collectively spell out a riddle, based on their encryption method. The key words for each encryption spell out a poem:

• Alpha

To learn about our scholar's quest

• Beta

Let your mind their work digest

• Gamma

Who at the incept of the art

• Delta

Gave poly symbol code its part

The answer is Leon Battista Alberti. Alberti was a proper Renaissance polymath, and inventor of the Polyalphabetic cipher, and the Cipher disk. Using his name as a sub-directory leads to an "epsilon" page which gives us a number of logic puzzles.

Website: http://crypto.perplexcityacademy.com/alberti.php

The puzzles are formatted like:

The second word after "family;" is "vulnerabilities"

The fourth word before "significantly" is "practices"

The ninth word before "security" is "that"

The fifth word before "business." is "social"

These appear, when unfurled, to be descriptors of a number of noteworthy documents the department has published.

Content

266 Case Study

An analysis of the Academy security system, strengths and vulnerabilities, action points. Sente Kiteway, Scryer, Gatlin, Framingham. Access to this study is determined on an as-needed basis. If you are require access to this study to further your research, please speak to the department head or one of the adjunct senior fellows.

(NOTE: There seem to be some errors in the clues, notably those that begin "The word before X is Y.")

267 Case Study

Sharp red and sharp security; the influence of pharmacological substances that influence neural patterns as pertains to voice-recognition and other biometric security implementations. Proposals for new guidelines on developing agitation detection systems to allow for use of cognitive enhancers. - Bradshore, Mittwoch

267 White Paper

Neural Desteganographic Decryption. A proposed system to imprint an image with cipher-text recognisable by only the neural pattern of the intended recipient fails to work robustly or over time. Probable real-world uses limited at present. - Cupertine, Stanton.

268 Case Study

An Analysis of the Djinn Virus as pertains to Next Generation Key Technology - Available on request from Centrifuge. - Coupland, Fowler, Tian

268 White Paper No. 1

As secure as your family; social vulnerabilities in the security business. Concludes that one of the most vulnerable points in any security schema is the relationship between the trusted individual and untrusted individuals he or she may be close to, as security practices tend to be significantly less vigilant in the home and among family. - Fowler, Tian

268 White Paper No. 2

Quantum encryption proof-of-concept and preliminary deployment. An applied quantum entanglement encryption mechanism deployed successfully over a two-mile distance. Implications and next actions. - Bazeries, Beech, Cienega, Moro. Access to this study is determined on an as-needed basis. If you are require access to this study to further your research, please speak to the department head or one of the adjunct senior fellows.

(NOTE: The decoding is imperfect, but no part of the meaning is obscured.)

269 Case Study

Threat anaysis of various government institutions including review of possible indicators that critical and secure communications channels have been tampered with or compromised - Kiteway, Mansoor, Adamek, Ekeba, Inman, Morgan, Phan, Fennerman, Novak, Romero - Access to this study is determined on an as-needed basis if you are require access to this study to further your research, please speak to the department head or one of the adjunct senior fellows.

Raw, obfuscated data is available at "269 Case Study Raw Data"

References

Seen on a post-board, in the Perplex City Board Game Rules, is an ad stating "Ibyhagrref arrqrq sbe 90-qnl pelcgbybtl fghql. Zhfg rawbl pvcuref, yvir nybar naq bja bar be zber crgf. Fznyy ubabenevhz gb or cnvq. Bbk 55N91", which is ROT13 for "Volunteers needed for 90-day cryptology study. Must enjoy ciphers, live alone and own one or more pets. Small honorarium to be paid. Box 55A91"