The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Prisoner Encryption Code
Wedge Biggs
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Alright, here's the deal: I work at the maximum security end of a regional state prison. When I came into work last night, there was a new incident report at the Command Post. One of my control officers was listening over the intercom, and heard an inmate yell off a string of numbers to the next block. The second inmate then yelled the same string to the next block, and this was repeated until it spread throughout the whole unit.
Any cryptoquote or excryption experts about? I'm sure I'm missing something simple with this one, but the lack of spaces is killing me. The last time something like this happened, an inmate was stabbed, so help would be appreciated.
Any cryptoquote or excryption experts about? I'm sure I'm missing something simple with this one, but the lack of spaces is killing me. The last time something like this happened, an inmate was stabbed, so help would be appreciated.
239- 165 - 181 - 226 - 39 - 13 - 113 - 178 - 39 - 94 - 181 - 281 - 94 - 13 - 152 - 281 - 94 - 65 - 226 - 65 - 13 - 178 - 52 - 313 - 61 - 152 - 181 - 265 - 261 - 252 - 252 - 94 - 61 - 239 - 65 - 252 - 222 - 181 - 239 - 65 - 178 - 52 - 13 - 151 - 65 - 239 - 13 - 81 - 65
I ain't never crossed a man who didn't deserve it. - Artis Ivey Jr.
Wedge Biggs on
0
Posts
6 - 239
1 - 165
1 - 226
2 - 39
1 - 113
2 - 178
4 - 94
5 - 181
1 - 281
4 - 13
2 - 152
1 - 281
3 - 61
6 - 65
1 - 178
2 - 52
1 - 313
1 - 265
4 - 252
2 - 222
1 - 151
1 - 81
Where the first number is the number of appearances. Based on the amount of the number 65 that would normally be E then. So with that we can start breaking it down further. I'll post again if I made any progress. However it is also good to note that there are 22 different numbers, so chances are the message contains all letters of the alphabet except for X and Z.
Winning many contests that contain crypto are on my side.
Beyond that I'm pretty interested to see how this is broken down and cracked.
However, something to keep in mind is that your prisoners might not be using an elaborate system as what may be presented here. Think of the code talkers back in the day. They couldn't be cracked because it was a whole other language. Let these guys dig, but keep an eye out for the far simplier answer.
Looking at that, it's worth noting that they're all under 300 or so. My gut tells me that they're reference numbers. Is there a book or a magazine (around 300 pages) that is distributed to members of the prison? They could be using a specific letter or word from each page.
Police codes (i.e. 187, etc..)
Prisoner numbers
Cell numbers
Think at that level before you go deep into the deep mathmatical stuff.
The last guy was a rat, and we never found a written code. They flush easily.
We don't have any widespread distributions on the Max side. Too easy for them to make into a weapon.
This is in Montana. Our budget is shit. The only reason I even know about it is because we had a new officer who was actually doing his job.
Is there a common reference point that everyone (or at least those who repeated the code) have access to? Like a book in a library, or a bulletin board, or something written of that nature?
Negative. Locked down 23 hours a day, when they're good enough to have yard. No library privileges in Max. Nothing common enough to reference. We keep the blocks from being uniform for that reason.
This possibly popped out at me because I got my CCNA last year. There don't seem to be the right number to divide easily by 4 for a list of URLs though.
Ok, so maybe the key is something memorized. Regardless, that could be anything (The birthday song, the pledge of allegiance) so I'll just bash my head against a pad for a bit. It LOOKS like a simple substitution, so we'll see.
But really, this is pretty interesting. Makes me wish I could do math.
I agree with this man.
This was the first thing I thought. Page numbers. Books checked out from the library cart with words underlined on specific pages with pencil would be a really good way to pass messages.
Maybe it's a gang code--is there anyone you can contact to run it by, maybe state police?
We have six different blocks, each with their own book cart. The librarian makes sure there are only single copies in the unit. Books don't come from one block to the other. Once they come off, they're usually so trashed and used that they're destroyed. I'm thinking substitution. Our known gang members are separated from the blocks this was happening on. Gangs have never really been a big problem here.
Yes, they do. But even if they were going by chapter, verse, page, paragraph, word, or letter, the same numbers correspond to the same letters. Still a substitution problem.
If they're using the equivalent of a one time pad then you're screwed. If they're not being that clever then i'd try to get more samples of this to try and do some frequency analysis.
I recommend reading Simon Singhs The Code Book. Also, i'd suggest posting this on a crypt analysis forum.
---
I've got a spare copy of Portal, if anyone wants it message me.
Three digrams appear twice, no repeated digrams otherwise. 281 94, 178 52, 239 65.
The index of coincidence doesn't seem to line up with English but I ran it through an old program of mine that may be calculating it incorrectly because I think I had it setup to look for vigeneres and I'm just telling it to use a key length of 1 to represent a simple cipher, I'm going to ignore this bit because it looks like a simple substitution still...
Looking at the numbers I saw two patterns, there were a few numbers being multiples of 13 (particularly the first lowest numbers, 13 39 52 65) and quite a few double digit numbers appear again with a 1, 2, or 3 prefixed.
13 113 313
39 239
52 152 252
61 261
65 165 265
81 181 281
94, 151, 178, 222, and 226 are the only "unique" values of this pattern. Not quite sure what those patterns will say or if they're even one at all.
And even if you crack the code, all of the nouns will likely be replaced with codewords. You're not going to get "Jenkins is to be stabbed during our teabreak", it'll be "Take off Cinderella's slippers at the ball".
I know it's exciting and mysterious and all, but I just don't think there's any progress to be made here.
You're talking about an increasingly complex string of math, as I understand it. While clever, how clever are we talking here.
They're not teaching each other calculus in the yard for an hour a day.
Sorry. But lives are potentially at stake. If the question is, "do we try to crack this code, or do we go ahead and lock things down and start searching cells", the answer needs to be to search cells. I wish life was like the movies, too.
Cells are being searched as we speak.