On ARGs

My fascination with cyber security and computers began as a byproduct of how much time I spent on computers. It began from being interested by electronics and r/c planes. But at first I was off put by the amount of advanced material and lack of simple tutorials available on the internet. That all has changed. The internet is developing a vastly different coulture of learning, one where anyone has the power to learn anything. The realization of this has begun a wave of introductory material to all sorts of topics, written by people who experienced or saw the rising need for it.
     As I have progressed in my schooling I have become increasingly adept at learning from internet resources. There is a certain point at which one begins to filter the advanced vocabulary instead of being hindered by it. However, it is always nice to start with something simple.

My first dip into args was upon seeing a post by /u/bloodster8 on reddit.com/r/wtf. The subsequent chase after truth swallowed my time. It began with simply writing a summary and attempting to compile my information, but I realized that there were others looking to me as an authority. I found it strange... the power of anonymity. It reminds me of Ender's Game, and the "net." I have always aspired to the way that Peter and Valentine are able to gather power, disguising their ages and identities behind an username and advanced vocabulary.

What intrigues me about ARGs is that I am good at them. I think that if I were entirely unable to figure something out I would quickly give up. But with /u/bloodster8's there was no heavy emphasis on advanced cryptography or steganography... thankfully. Over the next few days I will attempt to write out my discoveries, and path to discovery of /u/bloodster8's ARG, 4414 and the UK Cyber Security Challenge. Mostly, of course, for personal record, but also in case anyone else might be able to learn from it. In the last 3 weeks I have gone from knowing practically nothing about cryptography or cyber security, to being able to compete with professionals in the it-field and maintain a reasonable level of comprehension. Perhaps my learning process may help someone else, at least that's the idea.


Regards,

TCHB

Greetings.

Maybe someday I will consider the internet safe enough to not be anonymous, but for now...

I'd like to keep this blog to organize my thoughts, and specifically post about whatever ARG's or Cyber Security Challenges I might be working on.

As for who I am... I am the Chosen Half-Blood. You might know me from other places, you might not. Either way, I hope you enjoy what I post. Let the journey begin.


Regards,

TCHB