FOUNDERS' CODE
Crack the codes that built a nation
You think hacking started with computers. It didn't. Benjamin Franklin ran propaganda operations from Paris. George Washington built an intelligence network that was never compromised. Thomas Jefferson designed encryption devices ahead of their time. These were the original hackers. History just forgot to call them that.
Now it's your turn.
"Not every message is written down."
- the_architect
Before There Were Computers, There Were These People
They broke encryption, ran covert networks, exploited communication systems, and used social engineering, centuries before anyone called it hacking.
44 BC – 1700s
Julius Caesar
// Invented encryption algorithms
Created one of the first documented cipher systems. Every substitution cipher in history is a descendant of his work.
1778
George Washington
// Built an encrypted mesh network
His Culper Spy Ring used code names, dead drops, invisible ink, and compartmentalized access. Basically Tor before electricity.
1787
James Madison
// Steganographic key exchange
Used book ciphers keyed to publicly available documents. He hid encryption keys in something everyone already owned.
1790s
Thomas Jefferson
// Designed hardware encryption
Described a mechanical cipher wheel concept so ahead of its time that a nearly identical device was independently reinvented a century later and adopted by the US Army.
1775
James Jay
// Invented chemical exploits
Created an invisible ink that transmitted data through a channel nobody knew existed. A covert channel attack with chemistry.
1850s
Harriet Tubman
// Operational security master
Made approximately 13 missions rescuing roughly 70 people. Ran OPSEC so tight that bounties on her head never led to capture. Coded communications, trusted networks, zero compromises.
The Challenges
Six challenges. Two paths each. Every flag you capture teaches a real skill, whether you solve the cipher or hack the page.
Caesar's Shadow
Julius Caesar / Continental Army
A substitution cipher intercepted from a Continental Army dispatch. Break the encryption that protected a revolution.
The Culper Codebook
Washington's Culper Spy Ring
A partial codebook and a numbered message. Decode the intelligence that saved a nation.
Madison's Secret
James Madison
A message encrypted with a book cipher. The key is a document you already know by heart, or should.
Jefferson's Wheel
Thomas Jefferson
An interactive cipher wheel and a message that was considered unbreakable. Jefferson built the hardware. You break the software.
Invisible Ink
James Jay / Culper Ring
A message hidden where no one thought to look, buried in image data, metadata, or the page itself.
The Signal
Modern Steganography
Something has been hiding in plain sight since the beginning. You've heard it a hundred times. Now look at it.
Top Operatives
Ready to Start?
Challenge 1 is open. No account needed to start. Just you, a cipher, and nearly 250 years of history waiting to be cracked.
Begin Challenge 1 →