CIA Kryptos Auction: Anonymous Bidder Pays Nearly $1 Million for Secret to Decode Sculpture

The creator of the Kryptos panels, Jim Sanborn, sought to unburden himself of the puzzle, and then discovered before an auction he had archived its solution in the Smithsonian.

News
Solution to CIA’s Kryptos Sculpture Is Found in Smithsonian Vault

Jim Sanborn planned to auction off the solution to Kryptos, the puzzle he sculpted for the intelligence agency’s headquarters. Two fans of the work then discovered the solution.

News
You Can Buy One of the C.I.A.’s Greatest Mysteries at an Auction House

Sleuths have solved three of the panels of the Kryptos sculpture at the agency’s headquarters. Now the artwork’s creator is announcing the sale of the solution to the fourth.

News
Hard Fork Live, Part 2: CEOs of Stripe and Skip

More from our first live show taping, including a robot pants demo and audience questions.

News
Betty Webb, Who Helped Bletchley Park Code Breakers, Dies at 101

Sworn to secrecy about the goings-on at Britain’s storied World War II decryption operation, she only later recounted the efforts to crack German signals.

News