THIS GEOCACHE IS NOT LOCATED AT THE POSTED COORDINATES. PLEASE DO NOT SEARCH THERE.
This is the second geocache in a series of geocaches designed to educate people about cybersecurity. This series is a version of a Capture the Flag (CTF) competition. CTF competitions are popular with cybersecurity students, where participants must complete a series of ethical hacking, cryptography, system hardening, or similar challenges to gain flags, or special codes, that they must input into the system to gain points. However, in geocachingCTF, inputting the flag into the checker will give you the coordinates to the physical container.
NOTE: Since the cache got bulldozed, the field puzzle described here is not active right now. I would like to reimplement it when it is not 118° outside every day. This geocache contains a field puzzle. In order to access the geocache, you will need to unlock the two combination locks on the container. The combinations for each lock are given on the cache container, but in order to determine which lock each code belongs to and what the code actually is, you will have to decrypt both the words and the numbers given on the container using the skills learned in the CTF quiz. You'll want to print resources from the links provided on the Resources page and bring a notepad and something to write with, as there is little to no cell phone coverage at GZ and it is hard to do cryptography in your head. Be sure to enjoy the spectacular view on the way to and at GZ.
Why cybersecurity? In today’s world, understanding computer security is crucial to protect yourself and to understanding the digital world. Also, topics such as cryptography are fun challenges for geocachers to learn because many puzzle caches use them!
To complete this cache, you must go to https://geocachingctf.github.io/, read the Resources page, and complete the 10 question multiple choice quiz for this cache located at geocachingCTF#2: Basics of Cryptography. This quiz will test you on basic computer security knowledge. All of the information that you need to know for the quiz is located on the Resources page. In addition, the questions on the quiz do not advance until you get the answer right. Once you complete the quiz, you will receive a flag, which you will need to input into the computer code below the quiz. This flag will give you the coordinates to the cache location. Parking is located near the physical container with a short walk to the cache.
The cache is large enough to hold SWAG and travel bugs. The cache is starting out with 5 travel bugs and two SWAG bags: one non-themed SWAG bag and one SWAG bag with tech, cyber, and puzzle SWAG. Please bring a tech or puzzle SWAG item to the cache to trade if you have one. Always log the travel bugs in and out of the cache please! Even though this cache is not a TB hotel, feel free to use it as a haven for larger bugs. FTF prize is a $1 bill, a fun SWAG item, and the opportunity to MOVE along a real geocoin (NOT TO KEEP IT).
Good luck, and feel free to message us if you have any questions or need a hint.