Cicada 3301: I tried the hardest puzzle on the internet and failed spectacularly

No one knows who sets it or what the prize is at the end,
but Cicada 3301 is back for its third year, and the internet has gone wild

The hardest puzzle on the internet is not, perhaps, something to be attempted on whim during a quiet January afternoon.

But ever since I first heard about Cicada 3301, a mysterious event somewhere at the intersection of a game, a competition and a job interview, I'd wanted to test my mettle. It couldn't be that hard, right?

Wrong.

Cicada 3301 first appeared in January 2012, with a picture posted on 4Chan, the notorious message board which has given birth to everything from Lolcats to Anonymous.

In white text on a black background, the posted message read: "Hello. We are looking for highly intelligent individuals. To find them, we have devised a test.

"There is a message hidden in this image.

"Find it, and it will lead you on the road to finding us. We look forward to meeting the few that will make it all the way through.

"Good luck."

It was signed "3301".
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/10/cicada-3301-i-tried-the-hardest-puzzle-on-the-internet-and-failed-spectacularly