mathschallenge.net

Problem

The end of topic tests in mathematics are looming and you realise that you have spent one too many lunch times surfing the internet and not revising. Just before you log off you suddenly remember that you never actually logged into the terminal. Curious about who left the computer logged in, you discover that it was your mathematics teacher.

You decide to "research" the contents of his private directory and stumble upon a file called, "end_of_topic_test.doc". After checking that no one is looking, you double click on the filename and are greated with a box requesting a password.

Not to be out-done, you look through the files and discover a file called, "password.gif". You cannot believe your luck! Excitedly you double click it and are presented with the following image:

Can you discover the password?

Solution

Although this is not strictly an encryption system, this challenge will have tested the code breaker's ability to research with the information given. Once the characters were recognised as Greek, there should be little difficulty finding a table with Greek/Latin alphabet equivalents.

For reference:

Small Letters	Capital Letters	Letter Name	Latin Equivalent
α	Α	Alpha	a
β	Β	Beta	b
γ	Γ	Gamma	g
δ	Δ	Delta	d
ε	Ε	Epsilon	short e
ζ	Ζ	Zeta	z
η	Η	Eta	long e
θ	Θ	Theta	th
ι	Ι	Iota	i
κ	Κ	Kappa	k
λ	Λ	Lambda	l
μ	Μ	Mu	m
ν	Ν	Nu	n
ξ	Ξ	Xi	x
ο	Ο	Omicron	short o
π	Π	Pi	p
ρ	Ρ	Rho	r
σ	Σ	Sigma	s
τ	Τ	Tau	t
υ	Υ	Upsilon	u
φ	Φ	Phi	f, ph
χ	Χ	Chi	ch
ψ	Ψ	Psi	ps
ω	Ω	Omega	long o

Hence, the Latin equivalent of the Greek characters, ΑΡΧΙΜΗΔΗΣ, reveals the password: ARCHIMEDES.