British secret service presents college students with Christmas puzzles | EUROtoday

IIn the cloverleaf of the British secret providers, the technical interception and encryption service GCHQ is much less well-known than the home secret service MI5 and even the international secret service MI6, whose literary elaborations embody brokers similar to George Smiley and James Bond. The “Government Communications Headquarters”, because the abbreviation is written out, not solely employs many of the workers of the three intelligence providers (greater than 7,000 – the international service MI6 is just half as massive, based on public sources). He additionally has vital historic achievements himself.

Nevertheless, that is the third time this yr that the information intelligence service has despatched out a type of public hi there: a particular Christmas card of its personal, to allied providers at residence and overseas, to schoolchildren in additional than 1,000 faculties within the United Kingdom and, in reality, to anybody who sees them on the GCHQ web site and remedy the Christmas puzzles printed there.

Crucial position in World War II

The biggest decryption feat was undoubtedly achieved by the British interception and encryption service in the course of the Second World War by decrypting the German army code machine Enigma after codes and copies of the machine, which resembled a misshapen typewriter, fell into British palms. GCHQ’s intelligence gathering headquarters on the time was based mostly in a mansion referred to as Bletchley Park, north of London.

The mathematician Alan Turing was one of many key scientists who pushed ahead the decryption of Enigma. After the World War he was persecuted and harassed in England due to his homosexuality; he took his personal life in 1954. For round two years he has been honored together with his portrait on the present 50 pound word.

The GCHQ Christmas card includes a black and white photograph of the snowy Bletchley Park mansion on the surface and 7 completely different puzzles on the again. For instance, a standard time period needs to be discovered from 9 phrases, and 4 instances additionally point out a selected phrase with 4 letters. It’s about deciphering letter sequences and sample quantity mixtures.

“There is a job for everyone”

The faculties to which the puzzle was despatched participate in a Christmas competitors by which teams of scholars attempt to remedy the duties within the shortest potential time.

GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler stated the Christmas puzzles have been designed by her workers and designed to require a spread of abilities to crack. “Whether you are an analyst, mechanic or creative, there is a task for everyone.” The Christmas puzzle is a pleasant job that classmates or mates can remedy collectively. Deciphering has at all times been on the middle of her service’s work, and encryption and decryption at the moment are half of the present mission to make sure the nation’s safety.

The service’s chief puzzle developer, who for causes of secrecy – and probably to enchantment to a younger viewers – solely seems on the GCHQ web site as a cartoon character with the primary title “Colin”, additionally states that there are “different minds” relating to fixing the Christmas duties ” want. The similar applies to the work of the intelligence service. The service needs to “show young people that it is a gift to think differently.”