BENALOH PAILLIER[/size] …a new interpretation[/size]
“This is a message left for Dr. Horn. Just to remind you in case of emergencies that the password to the HALOS files is BENALOHPAILLIER. I have programmed HALOS to send in level seven cases. You should bring pizzas.”
Just ran across a drop-down box that referenced Paillier ciphers and it occurred to me that we are interpreting this sentence incorrectly.
The password isn’t BENALOHPAILLER, the decryption TYPE’s[/size] are Benaloh and Pailler.
Keep in mind that Stormseeker refers to the 752 code puzzle as “the HALOS file” instead of “the 752 Hex Code” So, perhaps we should be viewing the code itself as being the HALOS file and then the above clue would be reading as “The password to the HALOS files” (the 752 code) “utilizes cipher types Benaloh and Paillier”.
The usage of both Benaloh and Paillier ciphers in solving this also would agree with Gunrequiem’s Jan 14th post. “This last part is huge–we are likely dealing with multiple encryption. Pulled from this page”
Here’s what I’ve been able to see so far in reference to Paillier Ciphers:
Paillier Cipher (Number Input)
Paillier Cipher with addition
Paillier Cipher with Binding
Paillier Cipher (Text Input)
Paillier Cipher (Voting)
EDIT: Wanted to add that there’s a note on the whiteboard that says “use cascade ciphers only” and that multiple encryption is also known as [/size]cascade ciphering.[/size]
Your post just mind-raped me to a whole new level, man. Here’s the biggest problem I’m having–we have so much information, with an undiscovered mode of sorting it (if one exists)–what if it’s all just one big way of scamming us? Let’s look, for instance, at the canteen puzzle–it was pretty straightforward once one of the puzzles stuck out and the method for solving it was revealed. The “Victor would like this extension” portion of the clue we couldn’t figure out for the longest time. It was actually pretty straightforward after the mode was found–it hinted at the cypher, and the key was found on the very same board as the code. Now, we can assume two things at this time. Either the puzzle is meant to look so convoluted as to throw off the fact that the method is simple, or we are intended to stack the clues together and form a method for the madness–which, in the latter case, would probably mean finding a common denominator amongst all of the clues.
Circling back to your post, it could be something as simple as finding the message in each of the posts. Just like the last gate cypher, which was hinted at directly in Code C. We gotta start thinking outside the box on this, I think; for instance, I’ve personally checked all the first letters of each sentence, but I never checked the last–I also never checked the first letter of each post. I’ve also never combined all the capitalized words onto one page before to see if anything sticks out. Maybe the first/last letters of all the capitalized words? These are all things I’m going to check now, and they will probably reveal nothing, but it just seems like all this information is smoke and mirrors meant to hide a simple truth.
This message bugs me. It’s almost like all the gibberish is meant to throw us off from what lies underneath–the fact that some words are capitalized, and some are not. This is a common denominator amongst all the messages, as far as I can recall.
EDIT: I remember during the beginning of all this, when we found the Konami code cipher, that Code_ / Storm mentioned the “Bonami” (“Good Friend”) was possibly intentional. We found out other things about Dr. Bottomley, and he was even listed directly on the last clue to part 1. The thing is, it’s like we let that whole Dr. Bottomley thing go; Dr. Welsh, too. They are apparently critical, at least in some way, and the pointing out of revisiting the story by Storm could indicate that there is something about them we are supposed to discover. Again, the fact that all this is so confusing really makes me think it’s a coverup for something precise and to-the-point.
EDIT 2: I get that IRC Clue 2 is supposed to be a communication sent by someone negating previous data, but it just seems too perfect that it starts with “Solution two ignore loc data”–which, quite literally could mean to ignore the location data for solution two. Or just ignore solution two altogether, sans the “loc data”. The NW locations could also refer back to the NOTE WELSH–why phrase it in such a strange way, anyway? Perhaps I am grasping at straws.
N38°57’8.05" W77°8’44.82". Solution two ignore loc data N32°52’50.77" W106°20’49.40" not buried at initial loc, fly here. Travel 14.16 miles east we transferred the niobium there. Await further instructions.
Considering how Benaloh and Paillier systems work, either Storm just happened to leave some large numbers lying around, like Codes A-D, or this wasn’t the encryption used. I’m still sticking to my previous theory regarding a 128 or 256 bit block cipher.
EDIT: If we keep second guessing ourselves, we’ll never find the answer. Someone thought of a SECOM long before the message in Storm’s post was found.
First off I want to say hi to everyone, cause this is my first post. I’ve been following the ARG for a while and thought I might make some contributions about some things I noticed
I thought of something which might or might not be notewothy about the ham radio, which is that 7mhz to 7.125mhz is were hams with a general class, advanced class or extra class licence are allowed to transmit morse code, and you can usally find a lot of morse activity around those frequencys. this along with the morse code message it self indicates that the message is being transmitted from a ham radio or any other radio with morse capibilitys on a frequency that private citizens would be most likley listening to. another thing is that AI5BM is in the format for an amatuer radio callsign. A normal callsign starts with two letters indicating the country, in this case A and I, which indicates the US , and then is followed by a call sign district number, in this case it is 5 , which is new mexicos number, and then ends with a suffix of not more then 3 letters, which would be BM. The AR, meaning end of message, at the end of the morse message is something that you don’t see in amatuer radio, and is almost always used in military or commercial applications. The K following it means clear and is what is usally used in ham radio.
Nice insight on radio callsigns. Seems that the AI5BM was used to make an authentic message. The radio message also points to the Biodome, giving it the strongest connection to the ARG.
Large, whole numbers that are prime or the product of two prime numbers. Large enough that you wouldn’t realize the numbers are prime. And, if they were to be used to solve the current puzzle, must have been around since November of 2012.
A page back, Pointless pointed out that the first two blocks/bytes of the 752 hex were both one less than a prime, and those were definitely around back then.
500542569570457 is not prime, as it is divisible by 4. However, I’m glad to see everyone thinking outside the box. Turns out it IS prime–the online test I was utilizing gave me false info. You get a decimal when you divide by 4.
You are correct. I changed the original post a few seconds ago. The online tool I was using spit out a false negative, and a quick check on the calculator told me true.
EDIT: There are too many clues to simply base our theories around BENALOHPAILLIER alone.
Working from a narrative perspective, BENALOHPAILLIER was the password used by Dr. Horn to access the HALOS files. After solving IRCs 4 and 5, we had a login (HALOS) and a password (BENALOHPAILLIER). IRC 4 seems to specifically refer to a BMRF login, much like the kind you can see on many computer screens in-game.
Companies tend to have private computer networks for employees to keep their files. Perhaps Horn and Bottomley set up a secret account on the Black Mesa computer network in order to store the HALOS files. The username was HALOS, and the password was BENALOHPAILLIER. Remember that HALOS.txt showed up on Stormseeker’s website only after we obtained these credentials.
From this line of reasoning, using the HALOS.txt file as a guide, and building of my previous theory about a failed transmission, it seems someone used these credentials to access the HALOS files and then attempted to transmit them, only to have the transmission cut-off partway through.
On another note, I keep returning to the grilledpizza.jpg and the text beneath it. Too much work seems to have been put into this clue for us to disregard it.
Especially when you consider the use of the ASCII control codes in the binary taken from the image. In fact, their inclusion makes the message strikingly similar to an IRC clue.
Hey.
You guys seems to be sometimes repeating the same mistake over and over, and I’ve never seen this said, so allow me to explain something.
The encoded data is containing bytes from the whole range from 0-255. This is much wider than usual ascii letters and stuff.
Any “raw” copies/displays of the data posted in the forums, wiki, or any other web-based place will be corrupted, as some bytes (eg zeros) will be totally dropped, other will be mis-interpreted as white space, control chars, or parts of multi-byte Unicode sequences.
For the same reason, only “sensible” web-based decoders are those that accept hex- or base64- encoded input, and display the output in the same way (or as hex + printable ascii on the side).
And you need to pay attention what format the decoder wants - because literally any bytes can be valid encoded data, so it may happily take your hex or whatever, assuming it’s the “raw binary” - which of course would never lead to a useful result.
Re-reading what I wrote… seems I’m sounding like a condescending asshole. Wasn’t my intention, but… well, if it’ll help one person, it was worth it. Not like I have any reputation in here anyway.
Good luck, I’ll chip in if I’ll have anything more sensible to say one of those days…
Way ahead of you buddy. The current puzzle is a 376 byte hex code with a distribution similar to that of a contemporary encryption, rather than an old-school cipher. The wiki was recently updated to include copies of the code in binary and base64. The hope is that, after proper decryption, the ASCII will become readable.
The problem is managing to get this proper decryption.
Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.
