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Numbers up for would-be spies who can't crack code
From: William Knowles <wk () C4I ORG>
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 05:02:41 -0600
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,44697,00.html BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR FRIDAY DECEMBER 01, 2000 The Governments secret intelligence communications headquarters, GCHQ, has devised a SMERSH-proof code for potential recruits because a previous brainteaser was too easy. GCHQ, which employs about 4,500 of the countrys brainiest people, resorted to coded language for the first time last year to entice Britains finest young mathematicians into its workforce. A secret message was buried in its website recruiting material. The code was created by a young graduate at GCHQ, but it was cracked within 48 hours. Now he has produced a much more challenging encrypted message for the latest recruiting campaign. Last year hundreds of people who spotted the website puzzle managed to crack the five-word code which, unscrambled, read: Well done, now apply for a job. This time only aficionados of binary maths should think of tackling it, since each letter of the special coded message has been converted into a binary representation of its position in the alphabet a formula consisting of only 0s and 1s. The ordinary decimal system is based on multiples of ten. The number 246, for example, comprises two multiples of 100, four multiples of ten and six multiples of one. The binary system, however, is based on multiples of two and there are five columns of possible multiples for the 26 letters of the alphabet 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1. So Z, the 26th letter, is written as 11010 (one multiple of 16, one of 8, no multiples of 4, one of 2, and none of 1). A is represented by 00001. The brainbox in GCHQ, however, has complicated the teaser by hiding the 0s and 1s in subtle ways, including using a red and blue colour scheme to represent the figures. As an additional guide, GCHQ has helpfully suggested browsing through reference books that explain the workings of the Bacon Cipher and Bacon Bilateral Cipher. For budding code-breakers, the site is: www.gchq.gov.uk *==============================================================* "Communications without intelligence is noise; Intelligence without communications is irrelevant." Gen Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ================================================================ C4I.org - Computer Security, & Intelligence - http://www.c4i.org *==============================================================* ISN is hosted by SecurityFocus.com --- To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of "SIGNOFF ISN".
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- Numbers up for would-be spies who can't crack code William Knowles (Dec 02)