CICADA 3301 In popular culture
The United States Navy released a cryptographic challenge based on the Cicada 3301 recruitment puzzles in 2014 calling it Project Architeuthis.[29][30]
The plot of “Nautilus”, the September 30, 2014 episode of the TV show Person of Interest, featured a large-scale game very similar to the Cicada 3301 puzzles. Both feature a series of worldwide cryptographic puzzles, but as the title implies, these feature the image of a nautilus shell instead of a cicada logo.[31] Person of Interest creator Jonathan Nolan and producer Greg Plageman stated in an interview that Cicada 3301 was the inspiration for the episode: “Episode 2, I’m particularly fascinated by the subject underneath it. Look up Cicada 3301 on the internet. It’s a very interesting concept out there that we then put into a larger story that connects to our show.”[32]
The organization is the subject of the 2021 comedy-thriller film Dark Web: Cicada 3301.[33][34] Directed by Alan Ritchson, who co-wrote the script with Joshua Montcalm, it stars Jack Kesy, Conor Leslie, Ron Funches, Kris Holden-Ried, Andreas Apergis, and Ritchson. The film follows a hacker who participates in Cicada’s recruitment game while evading the NSA.[35][36]
In the video game Assassin’s Creed Origins, a member of the Isu civilisation references Cicada when listing off various mysteries of history.[37]
