A recent DARPA tech challenge to put a shredded document back together may make people opt for burning them instead.
The DARPA Shredder Challenge requires to reconstruct shredded documents and answer a puzzle embedded in the context of the rebuilt document. The puzzles were unveiled Oct. 27 and participants have until Dec. 4 to reconstruct and decipher them.
DARPA’s puzzle challenge will grant winners $50,000 and also leave people feeling uneasy that a supposedly, securely-disposed-of document is no longer so secure.
Some of the puzzles are comprised of multi-page documents with intermingled document remnants. The pieces were arraged text-side up and scanned at 400 dots per inch.
“The goal is to identify and assess potential capabilities that could be used by our warfighters operating in war zones, but might also create vulnerabilities to sensitive information that is protected through our own shredding practices throughout the U.S. national security community,†DARPA says.
Puzzles can be downloaded here.
