Self-taught programmer solves 20-year-old cryptographic puzzle

A cryptographic puzzle designed by Ron Rivest back in 1999 has been prematurely solved by a self-taught Belgian programmer named Bernard Fabrot.

The puzzle was actually a part of a time capsule which wasn’t meant to be opened for another 35 years – as that was the amount of time estimated to crack the puzzle, Wired reported. Fabrot used his home desktop and took three-and-a-half years to solve the puzzle.