TheClockworkBird
I am TheClockworkBird, and I have been a part of the Cicadasolvers community for nearly 6 years. I like to think of myself as a kind of tour guide for the digital interactive museum that is Solvers, and with day job as a Maryland educator, this role of digital docent suits me well.
With a background in anthropology, my solving expertise lies in the realms of art, literature, and the sociological aspects of the puzzle. I work as a community organizer for Cicadasolvers, putting together solving sessions, curating collaboration between solvers, and guiding newcomers through the vast materials pertaining to the puzzle. Over the last three years my work has come to include the tracking and tamping of misinformation as it relates to cicada, utilizing lessons learned from teaching in order to navigate the info-rich domain of 3301 and their puzzles.
In the end, bringing curious cryptanalysis fiends and all in betweens together is what I like to do!
Session
Cicada 3301 stands as a powerful icon in the digital age, and one which has also served as a potent attack surface for threat actors and novel misinformation strategies for over a decade. This talk aims to educate the public on the threat of ARG-attack surfaces through the lens of community experience, identifying the vulnerabilities, attack strategies employed, and offensive defense needed to curtail large scale misinformation in info-rich environments. Along the way we will quash conspiracies, liquify reality, and gain a niche perspective into the power of ARGS.