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Merago
Unfettered
Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 341
Can You Crack IT? British Intelligence recruiting by asking people to crack a code they've set Anyone seen this? At first glance it looks like a challenging code to crack.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/dec/01/gchq-computer-hackers-ad?newsfeed=true
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Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:01 am
JumboTron
Unfettered
Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 743 Location: ten miles north on the Dewsbury road
And at second glance?
Looks like hexi-decimal code but I can't decode it.
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:09 pm
me!!!
Guest
can you crack it? I have converted the hex to decimal but i don't know what to do after
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:20 pm
TravisT
Guest
Code What about converting to colors and see if you get a picture?
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 9:50 pm
TravisT
Guest
Music? What if not hexadecimal, maybe music?
Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2011 10:04 pm
catherwood
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee
Joined: 25 Sep 2002 Posts: 4109 Location: Silicon Valley, CA
something about this makes me think it is not a cipher to solve directly, offline, but a gateway to a website or a snippet of computer code. Remember, they are trying to recruit "computer hackers", not cryptologists.
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:04 am
marcin
Guest
answer Pr0t3ct!on#cyber_security@12*12.2011+
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:25 am
Robs
Guest
Re: Can You Crack IT? British Intelligence recruiting by asking people to crack a code they've set i386 assembly, executable.
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 6:24 am
Posyrr
Guest
What are the separate columns for? Is it horizontal, vertical, or word wrap? Also some things are repeated 3 or 4 times in a row. (e.g. 41 or 00)
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 12:15 pm
me!!!
Guest
sentative lowedic cracked!!! How didi you find it marcin???
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 5:58 pm
dogbreath
Guest
To me it looks like a joke that the press has fallen into. Analysing the philosophical implications of Popeye might be a more rewarding waste of time.
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 9:06 pm
Eugenes Lair
Boot
Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 51
dogbreath wrote:
To me it looks like a joke that the press has fallen into. Analysing the philosophical implications of Popeye might be a more rewarding waste of time.
Well, it's a genuine recruitment campaign all right, however I suspect it may backfire badly as there a couple of fundamental problems with it.
Firstly, a lot of those who've spent ages solving the puzzle have been disappointed to discover that the job vacancy can be accessed and applied-for directly.
(https://apply.gchq-careers.co.uk/fe/tpl_gchq01ssl.asp?newms=jj&id=35874 )
Secondly, the press coverage has highlighted the (comparatively) low pay available at GCHQ, which is partly responsible for the high staff turnover there - which in turn is why they're recruiting in the first place...
Fact is that anyone capable of cracking the code could (and possibly already does ) earn a lot more in the private sector.
I found this article on the challenge interesting (but be warned: it contains some spoilers on how to solve it...)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/8929232/Would-be-spies-who-crack-GCHQ-code-directed-to-25000-job-vacancy.html
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:29 pm
Lovely_Leslie
Guest
Marcin Marcin Yes, Marcin, how in the world did you figure out that dreadful code? ^.^
Happy holidays <3<3<3
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 6:21 pm
JumboTron
Unfettered
Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 743 Location: ten miles north on the Dewsbury road
Eugenes Lair wrote:
Secondly, the press coverage has highlighted the (comparatively) low pay available at GCHQ, which is partly responsible for the high staff turnover there - which in turn is why they're recruiting in the first place...
Fact is that anyone capable of cracking the code could (and possibly already does ) earn a lot more in the private sector.
Yeah, the job pays between £25k to £30k and is based in Chelmsford of all places! No thanks.
Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:44 am
Rogi Ocnorb
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee
Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 4266 Location: Where the cheese is free.
I'm too lazy to look it up right now, but, it was cracked last weekend.
There were several layers, starting with using the hex algorithm to desteg the pic, itself.
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Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:44 am
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