Info to Decipher Secret Message in Kryptos Sculpture at CIA HQ Auctioned for Nearly $1M (apnews.com)
(Sunday November 30, 2025 @05:50PM (EditorDavid)
from the no-more-secrets dept.)
- Reference: 0180245891
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/11/30/2130226/info-to-decipher-secret-message-in-kryptos-sculpture-at-cia-hq-auctioned-for-nearly-1m
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/kryptos-jim-sanborn-auction-cia-secret-code-cb8ee8554ca473910cbd0592f8bdb350
An anonymous reader shared [1]this report from the Associated Press :
> The information needed to decipher the last remaining unsolved secret message embedded within a sculpture at CIA headquarters in Virginia sold at auction for nearly $1 million, the auction house announced Friday. The winner will get a private meeting with the 80-year-old artist to go over the codes and charts in hopes of continuing what he's been doing for decades: interacting with would-be cryptanalyst sleuths.
>
> The archive [2]owned by the artist who created Kryptos, Jim Sanborn , was sold to an anonymous bidder for $963,000, according to RR Auction of Boston. The archive includes documents and coding charts for the sculpture, dedicated in 1990. Three of the messages on the 10-foot-tall (3-meter) sculpture — known as K1, K2 and K3 — have been solved, but a solution for the fourth, K-4, [3]has frustrated the experts and enthusiasts who have [4]tried to decipher the S-shaped copper screen... One side has a series of staggered alphabets that are key to decoding the four encrypted messages on the other side.
"The purchaser's 'long-term stewardship plan' is being developed, according to the auction house."
[1] https://apnews.com/article/kryptos-jim-sanborn-auction-cia-secret-code-cb8ee8554ca473910cbd0592f8bdb350
[2] https://apnews.com/article/kryptos-jim-sanborn-auction-cia-650c1253d6a96591f29b88a20299c430
[3] https://slashdot.org/story/05/01/23/2024241/decrypting-kryptos
[4] https://it.slashdot.org/story/14/11/21/2356214/another-hint-for-kryptos
> The information needed to decipher the last remaining unsolved secret message embedded within a sculpture at CIA headquarters in Virginia sold at auction for nearly $1 million, the auction house announced Friday. The winner will get a private meeting with the 80-year-old artist to go over the codes and charts in hopes of continuing what he's been doing for decades: interacting with would-be cryptanalyst sleuths.
>
> The archive [2]owned by the artist who created Kryptos, Jim Sanborn , was sold to an anonymous bidder for $963,000, according to RR Auction of Boston. The archive includes documents and coding charts for the sculpture, dedicated in 1990. Three of the messages on the 10-foot-tall (3-meter) sculpture — known as K1, K2 and K3 — have been solved, but a solution for the fourth, K-4, [3]has frustrated the experts and enthusiasts who have [4]tried to decipher the S-shaped copper screen... One side has a series of staggered alphabets that are key to decoding the four encrypted messages on the other side.
"The purchaser's 'long-term stewardship plan' is being developed, according to the auction house."
[1] https://apnews.com/article/kryptos-jim-sanborn-auction-cia-secret-code-cb8ee8554ca473910cbd0592f8bdb350
[2] https://apnews.com/article/kryptos-jim-sanborn-auction-cia-650c1253d6a96591f29b88a20299c430
[3] https://slashdot.org/story/05/01/23/2024241/decrypting-kryptos
[4] https://it.slashdot.org/story/14/11/21/2356214/another-hint-for-kryptos
Probably ROT13 (Score:2)
by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 )
No one knows that one any more.
Re: (Score:1)
by Anonymous Coward
V fcrnx ebg13, lbh vafrafvir pybq!
Didn't someone find the solution? (Score:1)
But by looking at the author's notes rather than figuring solving the encryption.