Potential spies crack prize

WITHIN hours of it being posted online, a highly complex code created by British intelligence agency GCHQ to attract new talent had been cracked numerous times.

No longer content with simply approaching the brightest from Oxford and Cambridge universities, The British Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) wanted to create an entrance exam with a difference.

GCHQ asked applicants to solve a code posted on a website. If the layers of code were cracked, the applicant was be presented with a keyword to enter into a form field before being re-directed to the GCHQ website, where hopefuls could find details of the types of roles which could reflect their skills.