London What is a spy agency’s Christmas present? What if there was a mystery encased in a riddle?
The annual Christmas Challenge, a festive greeting card that doubles as a series of incredibly challenging puzzles meant to inspire young minds in cracking codes and discovering clues, was released by GCHQ, Britain’s electronic and cyber-intelligence agency, on Wednesday.
Young people between the ages of 11 and 18 are the target audience for the challenge, which encourages teamwork and the use of creativity, lateral thinking, and tenacity to solve the seven brainteasers created by GCHQ’s in-house puzzlers.
The head of Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, sends the card to other national security leaders worldwide. Since their introduction in 2015, puzzles have been a yearly event.The card is available for download on the GCHQ website and has gained popularity among educators; according to the agency, one-third of secondary schools in Britain have done so.
The agency acknowledges that there is a hidden agenda behind the holiday joy.
Anne Keast-Butler, the director of GCHQ, expressed her hope that the card would encourage young people to study STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and think about the potential job opportunities in cybersecurity and intelligence.
Additionally, it seeks to debunk various myths surrounding intelligence work that are perpetuated by fictional spies like James Bond and super-agents.
Colin, the main puzzler at GCHQ, stated that teamwork is the best way to tackle the problem, contrary to the stereotype of the lone genius or secret agent.
Colin, who only provided his first name due to the confidential nature of his work, stated, “Don’t get me wrong, we have geniuses in the department.” But more importantly, we have a lot of people coming together with a variety of skills.
We are looking for a wide range of expertise. We value both analytical and lateral thinking abilities. Additionally, we appreciate that solving some of these problems requires a certain level of persistence.
GCHQ’s high-tech headquarters in Cheltenham, western England, which is known as the doughnut due to its form, is one of the sites linked to the card’s map of the United Kingdom.
The relationship between puzzlers and spycraft is frequently celebrated in the literature, movies, and television series about Bletchley Park, a complex of buildings and wooden huts northwest of London where hundreds of mathematicians, cryptologists, crossword puzzle specialists, and computer pioneers worked to decipher Nazi Germany’s secret codes during World War II. Many British people are avid puzzle solvers.
Their work shortened World War II by up to two years, according to historians.
According to Colin, we are increasingly hearing from new hires that they learned about GCHQ through puzzles.
It certainly motivates people.
Even while technology has come a long way since Bletchley Park, creating and solving puzzles is still a task that requires human interaction.
According to Colin, AI has a poor track record of creating or resolving issues of this nature. It’s still true that humans can create engaging puzzles that AI can’t solve, thankfully.
By Associated Press’s JILL LAWLESS
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