The Mary Ferrell Foundation is launching a new project. The CIA Cryptonym Project provides a handy reference guide for decoding "cryptonyms" which pepper CIA records on this website - AMLASH, ZRRIFLE, LIONION, AMBIDDY-1, JMWAVE, and so on. The person, organization, or operation referred to by the crypt is in many cases now public information, and in other cases can be inferred from public records.

On the project page, each crypt is accompanied by a brief definition and a list of source references which directly or indirectly verify the decoding, or provide important context. Bookmark the project page for reference as you read CIA records.

Decode and share! This is a participatory project. Experts on CIA records are invited to share their knowledge. Others may use the MFF search engine to research outstanding crypts and help us build a more complete database. See the sidebar on the project page for details.