Six Lines

Cyber Command Logo Challenge Disappointment

Posted by Aaron Massey on 08 Jul 2010.

The US Cyber Command Logo Challenge I mentioned yesterday has been solved. Several people have pointed out that the md5 hash of their mission statement produces the code on the logo:

bash$ md5 -s "USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries." MD5 ("USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.") = 9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a

Needless to say, this is a bit of a disappointment. Not only is the code not all that challenging to discover, but it’s based on a cryptographically broken hashing algorithm. Talk about a symbol for the organization…