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Breaking the Codes In Oslo Terrorist's Manifesto

repvik writes "The 1500-page manifesto of the terrorist who killed 77 people in Oslo and on Utøya two weeks ago contains a series of seemingly encrypted URLs. There are 46 of them, and the initial part of the URLs appear to be GPS coordinates. An effort to analyze the codes have been launched."

38 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. inevitably by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    they all lead to goatse

    1. Re:inevitably by Sun · · Score: 2

      All URLs lead to goatse just as all Wikipedia links lead to "philosophy"

      There, fixed it for you.

  2. Re:Why is this being made public? by jeffasselin · · Score: 5, Informative

    The alleged perpetrator of the terrorist attack posted the manifesto online himself before going on his rampage, and everything in there is on the internet and people have been reading and analyzing it since.

    --
    If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
  3. Re:Why is this being made public? by Ironhandx · · Score: 4, Informative

    Most likely its being made public just in case this is some sort of instruction system for various cells.

    I imagine the reasoning behind it is to let anyone who might be thinking of following the instructions know that they're onto the fact that there is something here.

    There is also benefit to crowd sourcing it this way in that someone may have been involved and may be able to use "figuring out the code" as an excuse without incriminating themselves to come forward and help prevent whatever these codes may set into motion.

    Keeping it secret and trying to solve it with limited resources isn't going to do much good. So, rather than being idiots, they've taken the logical route.

    The goal here is to prevent any further atrocities. They may not catch the cells this way, but they may dissuade them from acting at all, or they may catch a guilty conscience that helps solve the whole thing for them rapidly.

    If the whole point is saving lives, then I feel, as they obviously do, that this is the best way to go about it.

  4. HTTP added by wordprocessor by Dan+East · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My guess is that when he entered strings like this into his wordprocessor
    52.068.4.309plusf24:KWimfhh436383717863

    That it interpreted the numbers as IPv4 addresses and prepended http:/// onto it. If someone can verify then that part of the "mystery" is solved. It has nothing to do with URLs.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
    1. Re:HTTP added by wordprocessor by PCM2 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Good theory, so I just checked in Word. It will automatically hyperlink a DNS-looking URL, but it will not automatically hyperlink a numeric address. Also, although you don't need to type the http:/// Word just applies the correct hyperlink as a style; it does not add the http:/// to the text you typed.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    2. Re:HTTP added by wordprocessor by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      More likely the code, just like the rest of the manifesto, are all just elements to feed the ego of a psychopath whose singular motivation was to ease his frustrations by inflicting pain and suffering upon as many people as possible. Everything now is about ego inflation of a homicidal maniac, about gaining further attention, about driving conspiracy theories and about forcing his frustrations upon others.

      The more it drifts from reality, the reality of a sad pathetic individual suffering from a genetic birth defect that absented him from interacting normally, basically lost in a empty world devoid empathy, conscience and a whole range of human emotions, including happiness and joy. His world of frustration, driven largely by the envy of seeing normal people sharing real emotions whilst he could only ape them so that he could appear normal and gain advantage in what ever self serving schemes and plots he had going to assuage his frustrations and feed his ego.

      His greatest fear, to be treated as a pathetic nothing, a victim of a genetic birth defect whose manifesto is as meaningless and empty as his life was. The manifesto being nothing but fantasy and lies to feed his ego and make him the centre of attention. The is only one lesson to be drawn from his life, the importance of testing for psychopathy in order to prevent the huge of of victims those that suffer this genetic disorder create. Those that go insane with a gun have nothing on those that gain positions in government or those that run corporations.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  5. Re:Why is this being made public? by Music2Eat · · Score: 2

    Except, instead of dissuade them, it would more likely force them to speed up their plans. You really think crowd sourcing this would get better/quicker results then the dedicate code breakers at some place like the FBI or MI6? You really think, "possibly", dissuading them is better then actually catching them?

  6. Why give it the time? by Nyder · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here's the problem:

    If i had a grudge against humans, or a certain set of humans, or something really stupid like that and I wanted to do something that will get me remembered, for whatever reason, in the history of man, I'd do some crap just like this. Make up a "manifesto" of probably gibberish, encyrpted and whatnot, so peeps would spend many hours of discussion and get me remembered.

    So do we think we'll get a better understanding of the dude who killed those people by figuring out his stupid manifesto? And that will help his victims how exactly? I mean, i'm sure their families are probably helping figure this manifesto out and twitting it to all their friends. (yes, i'm being fucking sarcastic here).

    Crazy people are, well, crazy. It doesn't matter their reason for doing stuff like killing people. That shit ain't cool, and shouldn't be going on, no matter the reason. But very little we will do, will stop the crazies from doing the crazy shit.

    Sometimes there are signs, and sometime we recognize crazy before crazy gets killing. But most the time, we don't. We don't realize that crazy is just under the skin of that person we talk shit to all the time. We don't realize that everyone has crazy in them, and sometimes, the littlest things set crazy off.

    Of course, i could be wrong. This murder might have the answer to life, the universe and everything in his manifesto. And even if it did, it's not worth our time trying to find out. Dude went out and killed a bunch of people to get attention for his manifesto and here people are, giving it attention.

    what dude did worked, and your showing that to every wanna be "terrorist" with a grudge against something and a chip on their shoulder, that if you want attention, kill some peeps and you'll get it.

    --
    Be seeing you...
    1. Re:Why give it the time? by kent_eh · · Score: 2

      If i had a grudge against humans, or a certain set of humans, or something really stupid like that and I wanted to do something that will get me remembered, for whatever reason, in the history of man, I'd do some crap just like this. Make up a "manifesto" of probably gibberish, encyrpted and whatnot, so peeps would spend many hours of discussion and get me remembered.

      That's sort of what Dexter did, though his motivation was to mess with the investigators.
      Then again, Dexter is a fictional character...

      This guy probably is deluded enough to believe he was doing the world a favour, and that the world would see his writings as a sensible "way forward" now that he has set the ball in motion.
      I'm sure it's perfectly sensible in his mind, if only everyone else would just listen to him.

      ----

      I have had to deal with a family member who was eventually hospitalized with Delusional Disorder.
      Lemme tell you, they can be absolutely convinced that they alone know the truth of things, and that pretty much any action is reasonable to get the rest of the world to see things "for what they really are"
      It's damn scary watching it happen to someone you know. I hope none of you have to experience it first hand.

      --

      ---
      "I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
    2. Re:Why give it the time? by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      I did notice that at many of the locations there have been a gym not far from the location.

      And he has been exercising heavily in prison, so maybe those are locations of preferred gyms.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    3. Re:Why give it the time? by Yvanhoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You can't fight the ideology without understanding it. Reading Mein Kampf would have saved European politicians a lot of hesitation before they declared war on Germany.

      The most serious error we can make is to dismiss this guy as a nut. He was not, he was a smart man who gave into a toxic ideology. I mean, he learned how to manage dangerous chemical processes in a DIY fashion, he carefully planned a lot of dangerous material acquisition, he has a coherent prose, and sadly, he made a very smart choice in the people he chose to kill.

      Understanding why he chose to follow the most extreme opponents of multiculturalism is important. Right now, some people are reading his prose like a manual. We know about the streisand effect : trying to force people to not talk about something doesn't work. Right now, every sympathizer of far right ideology has read it. Understand the effect it will have, understand what to expect.

      After reading it, I was convinced that it will encourage other people to act in a similar way. It is very seducing for people with the right background. Fight it by addressing the questions it poses about multiculturalism. His arguments need to be addressed and answered instead of being silenced.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
  7. Re:Why is this being made public? by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Most likely its being made public just in case this is some sort of instruction system for various cells.

    By that admission, the Christians running the Western governments are as dangerous as the so-called "terrorists" they demonize in Rupert Murdoch's media.

    In other words, not only are Christians idiots, but easily manipulated idiots in high places with the power to influence what people do with their lives. That's why larger and larger numbers of people are seeing them for what they really are -- idiots. The party of "can't do." You can't enjoy premarital sex. Marginalize homosexuals. You can't do this, you can't do that, or else you're going to hell. Which proves many times over what people from civilized countries have been saying about us the whole time: Americans are fucking morons. Put off that stem-cell research, god (as interpreted by half-ass churches) doesn't want humans to live.

    Fuck you, assholes.

  8. Re:Why is this being made public? by cgenman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Considering the FBI and MI6 don't have jurisdiction in Oslo, very probably.

    Also, why would terrorist cells communicate via secret text in 1,500 page manifestos? It just doesn't make any sense. Encode some data into witty photos posted on Reddit photoshop contests. Mix some in torrents. Or, gasp, talk to people. Let's be honest here, most terrorists don't communicate by massively arcane technological methods. Most just talk on forums, make phone calls, or chat through chat programs.

    Anything embedded secretly in a 1500 page highly public manifesto is basically advertising intended to keep people excited and talking about the manifesto. And at that, the nutjob wins. But the idea of some form of meaningful project-based communication between terrorists happening secretly via 1500 page manifestos is ascribing a degree of power to them that I personally have trouble stomaching.

  9. Re:Why is this being made public? by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because anyone who is going to use this information to do harm already knows it. The thing people seem to forget whenever something scary happens is that the "bad guys" aren't stupid. Terrorists know how to use a computer. It's better that everyone knows the information so that everyone can use it to prevent whatever attack it might indicate.

    The two choices are NOT:
    1. Keep the information secret and the bad guys will never find it
    2. Release the information and the bad guys will use it to do bad things

    The choices ARE:
    1. Keep the information secret and everyone is caught with their pants down when the bad guys, who figured all this out on their own, do bad things.
    2. Tell everyone the information so that any Tom, Dick, and Harry knows what the bad guys are going to do and they can take appropriate measures.

    --
    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  10. I think I got most of it decrypted by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Funny

    B.E.S.U.R.E.T.O.D.R.I.N.K.Y.O.U.R.O.V.A.L.T.I.N.E.

    and, to accommodate Slashdot's filters...

    b.e.s.u.r.e.t.o.d.r.i.n.k.y.o.u.r.o.v.a.l.t.i.n.e.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  11. Re:Manifest? by camperdave · · Score: 2

    ... and remember, that's just Manifest O. There's 25 other letters in the alphabet.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  12. 1500 Pages? by Lanteran · · Score: 2

    I'll wait for the movie.
    Too soon?

    --
    "People don't want to learn linux" hasn't been a valid excuse since '03.
  13. The project appears to be in good hands. by An+Ominous+Cow+Erred · · Score: 2

    Looks like it's Oystein, (a.k.a. edison) in charge of the operation. He's one sharp cookie and has been in the Norweigan scene for decades. I remember how fun we he was 20 yrs ago. xD I'm sure it will be solved soon.

  14. Re:Why is this being made public? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

    You seem to be making an assumption, that the "authorities" have released this information. If I were to research that possibility, I may very well find that your apparent assumption is correct. However, when I read TFS and TFA, I see no such indications. Unless you are familiar with the author, and/or the website(s) involved, I can't see that your assumption is warranted.

    What I believe has happened is, some pretty sharp people have read that manifesto, and some random people noticed what looks like an encryption scheme. Some of those people may or may not be acting in some "official" capacity - or not. It's quite possible that the governments and/or authorities failed to notice any encryption scheme used in the manifesto.

    I'll confess that I read over the manifesto, and I tried to use the "links". It never occurred to my feeble mind that those links might represent anything other than outdated links. And, of course, I'm a bit lazy - I never searched for alternative routes to those links, or searched the wayback machine, or anything else to resolve what those dead links might represent.

    Based on my own limited, personal experience - they don't even LOOK like encryption, so I would NEVER have started looking for ideas, without prompting from someone else. Of course, I'm no cryptographer. Codes tend to kick my ass, no matter how simple.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  15. Re:Why is this being made public? by PCM2 · · Score: 2

    The weird URLs are hidden in with the regular URLs. I never tried to click on any of the URLs, so I never even noticed it before it was mentioned here. There are spots in the manifesto where he will have a "references" section, with a list of URLs, numbered 1-26 or whatever. Only there's two #13's -- the first one is the real reference 13, and the second one is one of these weird URLs (which technically aren't URLs at all, because they don't seem to use any known addressing scheme). So they are not only obscured or obfuscated in some way, but they are also deliberately hidden in the document, presumably to be discovered by somebody at some time.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  16. Lost time by mseeger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am sure that this will be lost time. Worse. Spending time with his manifesto is exactly the thing, the killer wants us to do. He is not worth the time and effort, his manifesto is also not worth it.

    The murders were his PR campaign. Don't fall for it. I know that a "damnation memoriae" will not work, but don't help a killer with additional attention.

    I don't want to know about his childhood, i am not interested in his home stories, i don't want to see his pictures or see his manifesto publicly discussed.

    If you want to spend time, do it for his victims. What where their dreams, ideas, visions? Try to use your words to keep their memory alive, not some sick bastards.

    Yours, Martin

    1. Re:Lost time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You can't uproot ideas, even very silly and mad, by just ignoring them, and supression is actually the breeding ground for them. Maybe it's boring to refute every one of them indefinitely, when you can spend that time watching Glee or chewing food, but this kind of education by discussion is, in my humble opinion, much, much better than 76 persons dead in one day. It seems like his killing spree was not the aim but due to negligence of society to discuss some (yes, dubious) political ideas. You see? Once you supressing the question, you can get things going ballistic.

  17. Re:Why is this being made public? by physicsphairy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Your points remind me of a fortune I read recently:

    "A commercial, and in some respects a social, doubt has been started within the
      last year or two, whether or not it is right to discuss so openly the security
      or insecurity of locks. Many well-meaning persons suppose that the discus-
      sion respecting the means for baffling the supposed safety of locks offers a
      premium for dishonesty, by showing others how to be dishonest. This is a fal-
      lacy. Rogues are very keen in their profession, and already know much more
      than we can teach them respecting their several kinds of roguery. Rogues knew
      a good deal about lockpicking long before locksmiths discussed it among them-
      selves, as they have lately done. If a lock -- let it have been made in what-
      ever country, or by whatever maker -- is not so inviolable as it has hitherto
      been deemed to be, surely it is in the interest of *honest* persons to know
      this fact, because the *dishonest* are tolerably certain to be the first to
      apply the knowledge practically; and the spread of knowledge is necessary to
      give fair play to those who might suffer by ignorance. It cannot be too ear-
      nestly urged, that an acquaintance with real facts will, in the end, be better
      for all parties."
    -- Charles Tomlinson's Rudimentary Treatise on the Construction of Locks,
          published around 1850

  18. Re:Cut to the chase by arth1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sheesh, don't bother going to the trouble. You've got the killer, just try a little waterboarding and save the time and money.

    That is not the Norwegian way. Norwegians are a people of honor, who won't stoop to the level of the evildoers in order to fight evil. The reaction to the deed was one of sorrow, reflection and (and this is hard to understand for outsiders) love and openness instead of hatred and retaliation. In the days after the attack, the prime minister and mayor of Oslo walked around in public with less protection than before, precisely to show that the terrorist would not win by changing Norway for the worse.
    In polls, Norwegians are overwhelmingly against the death penalty, torture and revenge, and more so now after the UtÃya tragedy. Norwegians want to distance themselves from everything the perpetrator stood for, and retaliate by doing the opposite of what Mr Breivik thought he would achieve.
    The great majority of Norwegians want him to have the same rights as any other accused, and be judged and sentenced for what he did in a fair trial, and not risk jeopardizing justice by the police overstepping their limits. If the police can torture Mr Breivik today, they can torture you tomorrow. Punish him by exposing him to a fairness he never showed others. He will have plenty of time to reflect on how what he did hurt his cause, due to Norwegians being Norwegians, and not Americans.

  19. Know your enemy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've read some of his book. I won't finish it (not enough time in my life), but it's worth reading at least the first couple chapters and skimming the rest. It's scary to do because you'll find that it's not "incoherent ramblings" as the media tells you - quite a bit of it is eloquently written (I suspect it's stitched together from multiple sources) and presents some decent arguments. I'm pretty far to the socialist side, and he's hard-right, but I agree with some of what he's saying, even if I think the conclusion that he reaches (that it's time for Europe to rise up against the oppression of the current ideological regime) is bunk.

    This tragedy isn't caused by simple Crazy. An important ingredient is Ideology. To prevent future killings in this form - lone wolf, keeping a low profile - you have to fight the ideological reasons that drive them to do such a thing.

    The amount of Crazy this takes is not Batshit Insane. It's a lack of critical thinking about the flaws in their ideology, the conclusions they've reached, and the worth of the actions they will undertake; nurtured a supportive environment which will encourage his thoughts; but still enough sanity for long-term planning and preparation without raising red flags.

    Police work does not find these types. Some idiots will fuck up and get caught, but there are lots of people out there who are lacking in the critical thinking department. Some will always slip through.

    The way you defend against this is not to brush him off as Crazy; but rather to dive into his mind and try to understand what drove him to kill 77 people. And once you do, you, a rational thinker, need to talk with other people who may hold radical ideologies and help them to understand where the flaws in their beliefs are before the real Crazy takes hold and they start shooting.

    And you can't until you let yourself really understand his ideas, rather than just getting the two sentence blurbs. Know - deeply, intellectually - your enemy.

    1. Re:Know your enemy by Terrasque · · Score: 2

      I 100% agree with what you say. And I've seen very few people sharing that view.

      This is not some nutcase going batshit crazy, this is a *relatively* sane person following a (weird / ) set of logic to conclude it's the only rational thing to do.

      The right thing to do is understand why he came to that conclusion, analyze where he decided that that was the only thing he could do, and then find out how to prevent that from happening in the future.

      Of course, when I try to explain that concept to people (1. he's not the average El Insano Rabiato, and 2. to prevent this we must understand it), I always get the "How can you defend this monster??" and so on.. Basically everyone seem to go for the "Lala not listening" defense option.

      If he was insane, its unlikely he'd have done such an effective job, seeing as every step of the plan had multiple effects.

      Example: The bomb in Oslo did not only distract the police, but gave him an excellent excuse to go to Utoya as a fully armed police man (he even got the people there to get the boat by radio and drive him out there). Normally, Norwegian police don't carry any weapons at all (not even a gun), and it would have been extremely suspicious. However, after the bomb, the special units were sent out fully armed, and some police carried guns and automatic weapons. In addition, by attacking the political headquarters it seemed even more reasonable to send an armed cop to a political gathering close by.

      Not only did he plan it extremely well, he also kept it completely secret. As head of Kripos (Norwegian national police force for fighting organized and heavy crime) said, not even Stasi-Germany would have picked this guy up. A dedicated, smart lone wolf is almost impossible to stop (you'd be relying on luck, basically), once they get that far. The best defense would be to stop them from ever getting that far.

      And to prevent that, we need to find out why he, in the end, felt that he had to do such a terrible thing.

      --
      It's The Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rules."
    2. Re:Know your enemy by GuldKalle · · Score: 2

      One thing I do not understand about this guy, however, is why he didn't predict the backlash his actions have given. In scandinavia at least, there are a lot of eyes on the right wing, both extremist and otherwise. The political party that he attacked has had a huge surge in popularity. He must have known that his actions would not be approved by the public, so why didn't he see this?

      --
      What?
  20. Re:Why is this being made public? by DarwinSurvivor · · Score: 5, Funny

    That must have been one big cookie!

  21. Re:Why is this being made public? by Hazel+Bergeron · · Score: 2

    I wish people still expressed themselves with such eloquence. This used to be one of the first skills taught to a young gentleman - now it is rarely taught at all.

    Perhaps the problem is lack of gentlemen (and ladies).

  22. Re:Cut to the chase by ravenshrike · · Score: 2

    Well, except for all those calling for more gun control, even though given how methodical this ratfucker was all the gun laws in the world wouldn't have changed the outcome. Although to be fair from what I've found on the matter more calls for increased gun control seem to be coming from Sweden than Norway, which is rather amusing.

  23. Re:Why is this being made public? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Informative

    As a "gentleman" was someone who did not have to work for a living

    Not true. The term has had a lot of meanings over the centuries, but the common use in the late 1800s and for the last century was related to behaviour, not to income. This usage goes back to about 1400, although other uses (e.g. implying nobility by birth or the ownership of land) were common until about the time of the industrial revolution. Most gentlemen who did have to work would have been members of the professions (as opposed to the trades - a profession largely being defined as a job suitable for a gentleman) and would have included teachers, doctors, and lawyers, for example.

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  24. Re:Why is this being made public? by equex · · Score: 2

    Norwegian govt are totally butt buddies with any intelligence service. When the KGB comes, they pretend to be a little bit communist. When the CIA comes, they pretend to be a little bit capitalist. Don't forget, Norway was (is?) one of the countries where the CIA was caught trafficking detainees to Guantanemo from. We don't have secret torture prisons (afaik), but you know, some secrets are still just a secret. The US was also caught having a spy base downtown Oslo, as our government was caught knowing about it.

    --
    Can I light a sig ?
  25. Crazy? by splutty · · Score: 2

    Be very very careful with thinking this guys was 'crazy' or a 'loon' or 'insane'...

    He was anything but. He was very convinced about being right, highly intelligent, well read, and well versed.

    Dismissing him as a 'crazy person' is extremely dangerous, since that will never allow you to actually find out why he did this.

    There are a lot of people that have the same ideas he has, a lot of them even publicly. The fact he decided to take violent action based on that idea is something to reflect on, not something you should push aside as 'crazy'

    --
    Coz eternity my friend, is a long *ing time.
  26. Re: I think I already broke this guy's code by Slashdot+Assistant · · Score: 3, Funny

    Daily Mail readers have already been getting the manifesto in serialized form for over a hundred years. Were house prices and vaccinations discussed at all in the manifesto?

  27. Re: I think I already broke this guy's code by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    nauseating

    The really nauseating thing is that he is, of course, exactly right about some of what's in there. That the truth is mixed up in crazy land is part of the problem with guys like this - because when they're calibrating their world view, even their irrational minds can find some confirmation of their suspicions/projections, and it happens just often enough to keep them going on the loonier stuff.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
  28. Re: I think I already broke this guy's code by gl4ss · · Score: 2

    I don't think he had a too clear idea of actual crime levels in western europe from ww2 to today nor does he seem to have any clue about the decade before fifties(or much about anything before or after that). It's pretty apparent that he didn't, for a terrorist it's kind of strange that he in that way doesn't seem to be too familiar with political groups in europe which used terror a lot from fifties to nineties. the rhetoric is just your usual lies of old people that go "young whippersnappers these days are no good at all, when we were young we had manners and nobody raped anyone ever and we married before we had sex and no divorces!" and attaching that to foreigners being around.

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  29. Re:Why is this being made public? by cowboy76Spain · · Score: 2

    From a purely legal viewpoint, until there is a sentence he is "alleged perpetrator".

    Note that (in this case) it is probably just a formality (he won't be released under bond or whatever). But it is good to use the distinction so we can remember it in other, less clear cases that arise. It will be also useful in those cases where the press shows the public lots of circunstancial evidence with just the "right" spin while forgetting of the allegations of the defense.

    --
    Why can't /. have a rich-text editor? Editing your own HTML is so XXth century.