

Naturally I wanted to know more. Here’s what I learned:
“Cicada 3301 is a nickname given to an organization that, on three occasions, has posted a set of puzzles to recruit codebreakers from the public.[1] The first internet puzzle started on January 4, 2012, on 4chan and ran for nearly a month. A second round began one year later on January 4, 2013, and then a third round following the confirmation of a fresh clue posted on Twitter on January 4, 2014.[2][3] The third puzzle has yet to be solved. The stated intent was to recruit “intelligent individuals” by presenting a series of puzzles which were to be solved. No new puzzles were published on January 4, 2015. However, a new clue was posted on Twitter on January 5, 2016.[4][5] In April 2017, a verified PGP-signed message was found.[6] It explicitly denies the validity of any unsigned puzzle. A verified puzzle has not been posted since.
The puzzles focused heavily on data security, cryptography, steganography, and internet anonymity.[1][7][8][9][10]
It has been called “the most elaborate and mysterious puzzle of the internet age”[11] and is listed as one of the “top 5 eeriest, unsolved mysteries of the internet”,[12] and much speculation exists as to its function. Many have speculated that the puzzles are a recruitment tool for the NSA, CIA, MI6, a “Masonic conspiracy“[13] or a cyber mercenary group.[1][8] Others have claimed Cicada 3301 is an alternate reality game. However, no company or individual has attempted to monetize it.[11] Dark Web: Cicada 3301, a film inspired by the organization, was released in 2021.”
Interesting, right? There’s more:
“The United States Navy released a cryptographic challenge based on the Cicada 3301 recruitment puzzles in 2014 calling it Project Architeuthis.[26][27]
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.[28] 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.”[29]
The organization is the subject of the comedy-thriller film Dark Web: Cicada 3301, which was announced in 2018.[30] 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 was acquired by Lionsgate in 2020,[31] who released the film digitally on March 12, 2021.[32][33] “
And saving the best for last:
Cicada 3301 is mentioned in the 5th episode “Game Over” of Q Into the Storm.
The movie mentioned above sounds dark. Enough said. See eye aye.