Bradwell Electronics

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Bradwell Electronics
Active since 2016-03-05
Bradwell Logo.png
Better. Brighter. For everyone.
Type [[List_of_Investigations#Investigation|Investigation]]
Creator Bossa Studios
Discovered 2016-03-05

Main Page > List of Investigations > Bossa Studios

Most of the content on this page so far is a rehash of this Reddit post by /u/blackbat24; all credit goes to him.


Bradwell Electronics is a promotional website released by Bossa Studios, a British game developer responsible for Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread. At this time, the purpose of the site is unknown, but it is speculated to be an in-fiction promotional website for Bossa Studios' next game.

Email Newsletter

On the Bradwell Electronics site, there's a field where you can sign up for the Bradwell email newsletter. A few minutes after signing up, the following message is sent to your email:

Welcome to Bradwell Electronics - Better. Brighter. For Everyone.
Thank you for registering your interest for the upcoming relaunch of the Bradwell Electronics website.
When John Bradwell founded Bradwell Electronics over 62 years ago in 1964, he never imagined that the family business would become one of the most recognized brands worldwi$"%"$"!£2/.&%...

From this point onwards, the message is "corrupted", and is mostly comprised of Base64 ciphertext. For the full text of the email, check this Reddit post. At one point, the message becomes legible again:

>>INTERRUPT STREAM 
----------This is a mayday alert.
--------------------It is of concern to all of us.
------------------------------We ask you to trust us.
----------------------------------------We cannot do this alone.
<< END OF INTERRUPT

Encoding the Base64 in the text of the email yields an image which includes a QR code:

The image revealed when encoding the Base64 in the text of the "corrupted" email

(Note: Amesbury is the location of Stonehenge.)

Reading the QR code reveals the following string:

/?decrypt50726f6a65637441

(Note: 50726f6a65637441 is hexadecimal for ProjectA, but this is not yet relevant to the investigation.)

Countdown Timer

The countdown displayed when using the /?decrypt50726f6a65637441 URL extension

Appending /?decrypt50726f6a65637441 to the http://bradwellelectronics.com URL reveals a red box (link), containing this text:

\\>DECR_BRUTE_FORCE << |'fetch grid:[0x424cb726:0xbfe9c31a]/OENQJRYYVHZERCBEG.DAT'
-->BRUTEFORCE NODES RUNNING...
-->ESTIMATED BRUTEFORCE DECRYPTION COMPLETED IN: _d __h __m __s

The first line of the text contains the string OENQJRYYVHZERCBEG; this can be deciphered using ROT13 to obtain BRADWELLIUMREPORT. The significance of this is currently unknown.

Additionally, the final line of text in the red box is a countdown timer, which is counting down to 12:00 PM UTC, on March 8, 2017.

/__FILEDATA.ARCHIVE

On March 8, 2017, the text on the login page of "Decryptkit" changed:


##DECRYPTIONKIT#############
## GRID MINI VM V0.11[ADDRESS REMOVED]##
##################################

\\>DECR_BRUTE_FORCE << |'fetch grid:[0x424cb726:0xbfe9c31a]/OENQJRYYVHZERCBEG.DAT'
-->BRUTEFORCE NODES STOPPED.
-->BRUTEFORCE DECRYPTION COMPLETED: 
----> ARCHIVE DETECTED (OENQJRYYVHZERCBEG.ARCHIVE)
----> DECOMPRESSING ARCHIVE... COMPLETED WITH ERRORS:
-------> TOTAL FILES: 10, RECOVERED: 2
----> WRAPPING RECOVERED FILES FOR ACCESS: COMPLETED
----> RECOVERED FILES AVAILABE FOR DOWNLOAD: /__FILEDATA.ARCHIVE/
-------> ENTER SECONDARY KEY TO DECRYPT REMAINING FILES: 

This leads to archive page, which contains a press release about Bradwell's involvement in the restoration of Stonehenge in 2019, while the other file is a passworded zip. In addition, in order to access other parts of the site, a decryption key is needed to be added in the code of the website.

Within the js of the website, Discord user Concerned Hobbit found large blocks of hex in the code which, when translated, included the decrypted data that was supposed to show only after the insertion of the decryption key. Just a few minutes later, Discord user A4 found the decryption key (together) in the same translated js blob. With the 2nd key in hand, users unlocked the subsequent data and followed the instructions, but this still left the zip file encrypted and its content sealed.

The book cipher hidden in the footer of the press release.
Later that day, Discord user Varstahl noticed a series of numbers in the footer of the press release, which looked like a book cipher. Discord users dolomite and Randomiser, decoded it as w3trusTu, a keyword that unlocked the content of the encrypted zip file, revealing an internal memo containing the plans for the repairs of the A303 tunnel and the Stonehenge museum. Just like the press release, the internal memo contained a hidden word within, together, the 2nd key needed for the advancement. Discord user qw5nt spotted it inside the middle diamond, at the end of the footer, in a very small size font, black on black background.
The second key, highlighted, hidden in the footer of the 060702019 internal memo.

2nd Key

When the text of the public memo is copied, it reveals the numbers:

10-9|4-2|3-5|14-4
7-10|2-13|14-1|1-14

This was found by Discord user Varstahl to be a book cipher for the memo, revealing the phrase "w3trusTu." Discord user Randomizer found this to be the password for the locked zip, revealing another memo. This memo, when copied, reveals the word "together" at the bottom of the document. This was discovered by Discord user <W1CK.R> to be the "second decryption key," revealing the text:

##DECRYPTIONKIT#############
## GRID MINI VM V0.11[ADDRESS REMOVED]##
##################################

\\>DECR_BRUTE_FORCE << |'fetch grid:[0x424cb726:0xbfe9c31a]/OENQJRYYVHZERCBEG.DAT'
-->BRUTEFORCE NODES STOPPED.
-->BRUTEFORCE DECRYPTION COMPLETED: 
----> ARCHIVE DETECTED (OENQJRYYVHZERCBEG.ARCHIVE)
----> DECOMPRESSING ARCHIVE... COMPLETED WITH ERRORS:
-------> TOTAL FILES: 10, RECOVERED: 2
----> WRAPPING RECOVERED FILES FOR ACCESS: COMPLETED
----> RECOVERED FILES AVAILABE FOR DOWNLOAD: /__FILEDATA.ARCHIVE/
-------> ENTER SECONDARY KEY TO DECRYPT REMAINING FILES: ACCEPTED
-->SUBMITTING SECONDARY ENCRYPTION JOB TO GRID SYSTEM: [#####]
---->DECRYPTION TIME CANNOT BE DETERMINED.
---->NOTIFICATION ON JOB COMPLETITION AVAILABLE USING SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS TO PROTECT ANONYMITY
------>USE LINK TO POST A TWEET INCLUDING SPECIAL CODE 'BETTERBE2026'
------>DECRYPTION SYSTEM WILL GET IN TOUCH ONCE JOB HAS BEEN COMPLETED

The link is a tweet template which says "Fresh air is good for you. BETTERBE2026."

This page is a work in progress, and will be updated with new leads as they emerge.