UK spy agency wants to find future codebreakers with Christmas card puzzle – National
What does a spy agency give for Christmas? How about a puzzle wrapped in an enigma within a mystery.
GCHQ, the UK’s electronic and cyber-intelligence agency, published its annual report on Wednesday Christmas The Challenge – a seasonal greeting card that doubles as a collection of very challenging puzzles designed to excite young minds to solve codes and uncover clues.
The challenge is aimed at 11-18-year-olds, who are encouraged to work in teams and use “lateral thinking, ingenuity and persistence” to use seven mind games set by GCHQ’s “internal puzzles”.
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 introduced in 2015 and have become an annual tradition. The card can be downloaded from the GCHQ website and has proved popular with teachers – the agency says a third of British secondary schools have downloaded it.
The agency admits that the holiday celebration 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 think about what a career in cyber security and intelligence could offer.
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It also aims to dispel some of the myths surrounding intelligence work supported by super-agent James Bond and other fictional spies.
GCHQ’s ‘head puzzle’ Colin said the problem was best solved by teamwork, as opposed to the popular image of the lone genius or solo secret agent.
“Don’t get me wrong – we have geniuses in the department,” said Colin, who only gave his first name because of the secretive nature of his job. “But our critical aspect is bringing together a large number of people with different skills.
“The skills we want are quite diverse. We love analytical skills, but also lateral thinking skills. And we like the idea that with some of these puzzles, it takes a certain amount of persistence to find the answers.”
The card features a map of the UK with links to where GCHQ has its bases, including its high-tech headquarters in Cheltenham in western England, nicknamed the donut because of its shape.
Many British people are fond of solving puzzles, and the connection between puzzles and espionage is often mentioned – especially in many books, films and television shows about Bletchley Park, a complex of buildings and log cabins in northwest London during World War II, in which hundreds of mathematicians , a cryptologist, crossword expert, and computer pioneer worked to crack the secret codes of Nazi Germany.
Historians say their work shortened World War II by two years.
Among new recruits to GCHQ, “we hear more and more now that they first heard about GCHQ through confusion,” Colin said.
“It certainly inspires people.”
Technology has advanced immeasurably since the days of Bletchley Park, but – reassuringly – making and solving puzzles is still an area that needs the human touch.
“AI doesn’t have a good track record of building or solving puzzles, not this kind,” Colin said. “It’s still the case that humans can make interesting puzzles in a way that AI can’t – thank goodness.”
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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