1

For example, take K1, from the Kryptos sculpture, which has been long solved. It's text is as follows:

EMUFPHZLRFAXYUSDJKZLDKRNSHGNFIVJ
YQTQUXQBQVYUVLLTREVJYQTMKYRDMFD

Now, I already know they keywords used (because the solutions are online) and they are PALIMPSEST and KRYPTOS. However, I do not understand how you would go about finding these keywords if you do not already know them.

Any help would be appreciated!

James Strommer
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  • Someone in the DOD they might know! – Q-Club Apr 23 '18 at 05:13
  • @Q-Club Just for the record: KRYPTOS is an art project by Sanborn in cooperation with a retired CIA employee. So, this is not what you could call “of governmental origin” which makes asking the DoD a rather unhelpful comment. Also: back in 1999, Jim Gillogly (a computer scientist from southern California) managed to decrypt part of the ongoing “puzzle” challenge, and so have others… so it’s definitely valid to ask how regular people (read: “civilians”) have solved these parts of the 4-part challenge. Yet, this was already asked (so it’s a duplicate). – e-sushi Apr 23 '18 at 13:19
  • TL;DR – As the linked Q&As already state: things like brute-force hill-climbing algorithms and crib-dragging. – e-sushi Apr 23 '18 at 14:16
  • @e-sushi Nothing in those two links answers my question about how one would go about finding the two keywords for a Quagmire III. Especially considering K1 and K2 were solved by some people by hand. – James Strommer Apr 24 '18 at 18:52
  • @JamesStrommer They (1 & 2) don’t satisfy? OK, then I’ll reopen the question. To clarify: are you asking more along the lines of Possible ways to crack simple hand ciphers? or something else related to attacking Keyed Vigenére Ciphers (like, for example, a “walkthrough” example of some kind)? – e-sushi Apr 24 '18 at 19:42
  • @e-sushi exactly. For example a basic Vigenere cipher can easily be decoded by using frequency analysis to find the keyword and then just decode. But how would one go about a keyed vigenere cipher such as quagmire III? How would you find the keyword and then the indicator key used? – James Strommer Apr 25 '18 at 04:01
  • Note that, for the K1 cipher in particular, the Kryptos sculpture itself includes a decryption tableau with the keyword KRYPTOS. At that point, and after correctly guessing the encryption method, solving K1 essentially reduces to just solving an ordinary Vigenère cipher. – Ilmari Karonen Jan 03 '19 at 12:47

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