I believe most of you, if not all have heard about the serial killer dubbed The Zodiac Killer by the media who surfaced in the Northern California in the 1960's and is yet to be identified. Now those of you who don't know who the or what the hell he/she is, are wondering what does a serial killer has anything to do with computing. Well see the Zodiac was no ordinary serial killer ( if there is such a thing ) he sent letters to the media and the police taunting them about not being able to catch him.
His letters included four cryptograms (or ciphers), three of which have yet to be solved.
THAT is what interests me. One man in the 1960's came up with a cypher that no one successfully solved even after 50 years !!!
In this post I will try and put together as much data as I can on those letters and the cypher. Any and all help will be appreciated. This just might be a morbid, yet interesting way to discuss cyphers !!
The full collection of the letters from the most reliable source I can think of
Code: Select all
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer_letters
There are screen grabs of the letters too in that link. So it's open for discussion. Fill me in on the whole cypher knowledge. I'm trying to understand why can't a cryptogram consisting of 340 characters can not be cracked in 50 years !!!
Do educate me and all others who are interested.