What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a mystery wrapped up in a mystery within a mystery?
GCHQ, Britain’s electronic and cyber intelligence agency, published its annual report on Wednesday Christmas Challenge – a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a series of fiendishly difficult puzzles designed to engage young minds in solving ciphers and tracking down 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 perseverance” to solve the seven brainteasers in GCHQ’s “in-house puzzles”.
The map is sent by the head of GCHQ – short for Government Communications Headquarters – to other national security chiefs around the world. Puzzles were first included in 2015 and have become an annual tradition. The map can be downloaded from the GCHQ website and is proving popular with teachers – the agency says a third of UK secondary schools have downloaded it.
The agency admits there is an ulterior motive to the festive fun.
GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler said she hoped the map would inspire young people to explore STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – “and think about what a career in cybersecurity and cybersecurity would mean.” intelligence services could have to offer.”
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It also aims to dispel some myths about intelligence work fueled by super agent James Bond and other fictional spies.
Colin, GCHQ’s “chief puzzler”, said the challenge was best solved through teamwork, contrary to the popular image of the lone genius or sole secret agent.
“Don’t get me wrong – we have geniuses in the department,” said Colin, who gave only his first name because of the secretive nature of his work. “But what is crucial is that we have a large number of people with different skills coming together.
“The skills we want are very diverse. We like analytical skills, but also lateral thinking skills. And we like the idea of some of these puzzles that it takes a certain amount of perseverance to get to the solution.”
The map features a map of the United Kingdom linked to the locations where GCHQ has bases, including its high-tech headquarters in Cheltenham in the west of England, nicknamed the “doughnut” due to its shape.
Many Britons are keen puzzle solvers, and the connection between puzzles and espionage is often celebrated – particularly in the many books, films and television shows about Bletchley Park, a complex of buildings and wooden huts north-west of London where hundreds of mathematicians, cryptologists, and cryptologists were trained during the Second World War , crossword puzzle experts and computer pioneers worked to crack Nazi Germany’s secret codes.
Historians say their work shortened World War II by up to two years.
Colin said that among new GCHQ recruits “we are now hearing more and more that they first found out about GCHQ through puzzles.”
“It definitely inspires people.”
Technology has come a long way since the days of Bletchley Park, but – reassuringly – creating and solving puzzles is an area that still needs the human touch.
“AI doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to asking or solving puzzles, not like this,” Colin said. “It’s still the case that humans are able to solve interesting puzzles in ways that AI can’t – thank God.”
&Copy 2024 The Canadian Press
