Decoding The Secret in Cyber Command Logo

By Scott Fontaine - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Jul 10, 2010 9:20:30 EDT
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Maybe it’s a test: Figure out what 9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a means, and you’re smart enough to work for U.S. Cyber Command.

Or maybe not. Those 32 numbers and letters are in the inner gold ring of the new unified command’s logo. And although it’s not immediately apparent to noncryptologists, the 32-character code is an encryption for the command’s 55-word mission statement, complete with punctuation.

“It’s our mission statement,” spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Steve Curry said. “If you miss a comma or misspell a word, you’ll get a completely different code.”

A blog post on wired.com on Wednesday posted a call to readers to crack the code. A few commenters had a bit of fun — “If you can read this, send your résumé to jobs@nsa.gov” — and the techy readers needed just a few hours to realize the code was an MD5 hash, an early-’90s encryption algorithm.

It must be some serious shorthand because the command’s mission statement is “USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.”

Whew!

Looks like NT hash to me, should be fun

edit.... or md5 lol

Holy ****, and WTF, I'm gonna go launch the drift and sling a few flies.

Maybe my mind will clear after reading that one.

THANKS A LOT Rocky.:D


... and 'Whew' is right.

Brand out of the virtual box is the cryptic – and cryptographic – string that appears on the logo of a new government organization called the “U.S. Cyber Command“.

Inscribed inside the shield depicted in the logo, the string reads as “9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a” – apparently an MD5 hash of something that the agency does not wants us to know, in lieu of secrecy or for decorative purposes.

Regardless, someone has gone and registered 9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a.com and he’s pointing it to their personal web site related to technology and other geeky, personal stuff.

That’s a clever way to appeal to worldwide geeks and domainers who would never type in the domain itself, but would most likely did as we did: copied then pasted the string and added .com to it.

Remember, this still counts as type-in traffic!

Meanwhile, USCYBERCOM.com – the nickname of the newly formed agency – is a parked page at Sedo.


CYBERTHOUGHT is the brainchild of Chris Claborne. Although originally a consulting company built on the shoulders of Chris, it currently serves as permanent home in cyberspace for other ventures, interests, and efforts.





What does the code on the US Cyber Command logo’s inner gold ring mean?
9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a


If you find the solution, write to [Danger Room]

Got it !!!

Md5 Hash: 9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a

Normal Text: USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.

^ Same thing I found

Is this yet another wonderful example of a U.S. agency using a defunct cryptographic hash function to encrypt it mission statement?

WTF...isn't this the same hash function that we are supposed to be moving away from?

Their little mind game is analogous to Honda or Toyota saying: "Hey, if you can build a steam engine, then you can work in our R&D department of hybrid technology."