~/challenges $ cat weekly/12_the_invisible_cable.md
Steganography / Document Forensics
Medium
Live · Week 12
CHALLENGE #12 · Released 27 May 2026
The Invisible Cable
REWARD +275 ptsBriefing
intel://sss/briefing_12.txt
INTELVichten, late May. A leaked diplomatic cable surfaces in a courier drop the Special Services Team has been watching. Passed hand to hand. Never sent on the wire. It reads dry — a routine readout. Nothing classified beyond the banner.
But somebody bothered to walk it out of the building. And the file is heavier than the prose.
Source: Embassy of Bremerwald, Vichten. Cable ref VICHT/2026/0517-V. Date 27 May 2026. Subject: follow-up on the Nordlink remediation. Signed off by Deputy Chief of Mission.
The body says nothing. The bytes say something else. The drafter wasn’t sending the readout — they were sending the carrier. Operator, read what the cable didn’t say. Recover the flag.
Objective
Recover what the drafter really sent inside
vichten_cable_2026-0517-V.docx and submit it as the flag.
Evidence
Capture the Flag
Submit your solution · +275 pts on success
Format:
GRID-2026-XXXXOne submission per solve. Points post to the leaderboard on verify.