What does the spy agency give for Christmas? How about a puzzle wrapped in a mystery within a mystery.
GCHQ, Britain's electronic and cyber intelligence agency, released its annual report on Wednesday Christmas The Challenge - A seasonal greeting that serves as a set of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to excite young minds as they solve the cipher and uncover the clues.
The challenge is aimed at young people aged 11 to 18, who are encouraged to work in teams and use "lateral thinking, ingenuity and persistence" to solve seven puzzles created by GCHQ's "internal puzzlers".
The card is sent by the head of GCHQ — short for Government Communications Headquarters — to other national security chiefs around the world. The puzzles were first included in 2015 and have become an annual tradition. The card can be downloaded from the GCHQ website and has become popular with teachers - the agency says a third of UK secondary schools have downloaded it.
The agency admits that the festive fun has an ulterior motive.
GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler said she hoped the card would inspire young people to explore STEM subjects - science, technology, engineering and maths - "and to consider what a career in cyber security and intelligence can offer".
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It also aims to dispel some of the myths about intelligence work, promoted by super-agent James Bond and other fictional spies.
GCHQ's "head puzzler", Colin, said the problem was best solved by teamwork, as opposed to the popular image of the lone genius or lone secret agent.
"Don't get me wrong - we have geniuses in the department," said Colin, who gave only his first name because of the classified nature of his work. “But critically, what we have is a large number of people with different skill sets coming together.
“The skills we want are very diverse. We like analytical skills, but also lateral thinking. And with some of these puzzles, we like the idea that it takes a certain amount of persistence to find the answer.”
The card features a map of the UK, linked to where GCHQ is based, including its flagship headquarters in Cheltenham, West England, nicknamed the donut because of its shape.
Many British people are avid puzzle solvers, and the link between puzzle solvers and espionage technology is often celebrated - especially in the many books, films and TV shows about Bletchley Park, the complex of buildings and wooden huts northwest of London where, during World War II, hundreds of mathematicians, cryptologists , crossword experts and computer pioneers worked to crack the secret codes of Nazi Germany.
Historians say their work shortened World War II by up to two years.
Colin said that among new recruits to GCHQ, "now more and more we hear that they first heard about GCHQ through the mysteries".
“It definitely inspires people.
Technology has advanced immeasurably since the days of Bletchley Park, but – reassuringly – creating and solving puzzles is one area that still needs the human touch.
"The AI doesn't have a good record of either posing or solving puzzles, not of this kind," Colin said. "It's still true that humans can create interesting puzzles in a way that AI can't - thank goodness."
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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