RAT FILE 0005 · INTERNET MYSTERY
Wikipedia documents three rounds of puzzles posted under the name 3301 from 2012 to 2014. The stated aim was to recruit 'intelligent individuals.' The third puzzle is described as unsolved. A verified OpenPGP-signed message in April 2017 rejected unsigned puzzles. Who was behind the key is not established here. Agency theories are labeled hypothesis. The rat will not teach the puzzle steps.
THE RAT WILL NOT: No steganography how-to, no onion addresses, no accusation that any named person ran it.
Wikipedia summarizes three puzzle sets (2012, 2013, 2014), the 4chan start, the unsolved third round, and the April 2017 signed message.
Cicada 3301 posted their last verified OpenPGP-signed message in April 2017, denying the validity of any unsigned puzzle.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
Wikipedia says clues were signed by the same OpenPGP key, and that the puzzles used cryptography, steganography, literature, and some physical signs. This file does not reproduce methods.
Each clue was signed by the same OpenPGP private key to confirm authenticity.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
That the puzzles were a recruitment front for an intelligence agency or a secret society. Wikipedia records those theories as speculation. The rat does not adopt them.
Many have speculated that the puzzles are a recruitment tool for the NSA, CIA, MI6, Mossad, a "Masonic conspiracy," or a cyber mercenary group.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
Wikipedia says Chilean investigative police in Los Andes claimed in 2012 that Cicada 3301 was a hacker group involved in illegal activity. It also says Cicada answered with a PGP-signed denial. The rat is not a court. This is a reported claim plus a reported denial.
Cicada 3301 responded by issuing a PGP-signed statement denying any involvement in illegal activity.
Wikipedia · Encyclopedia · retrieved 2026-10-04
The identity of the key-holders. No public page the rat opened proves a name.
Gap · Gap · retrieved 2026-10-04
The puzzles are documented. The mask is not. 'Something smells weird' is allowed. 'This person is a criminal' is not. The rat stops at the signature.