National Security Agency sends out coded tweet to recruit personnel

It’s a fairly unusual recruitment method, but it’s definitely effective.

The National Security Agency (NSA) posted the tweet from the @NSACareers account on Monday.

It was made up of apparently random letters and numbers and included the hashtag #MissionMonday.

tpfccdlfdtte pcaccplircdt dklpcfrp?qeiq lhpqlipqeodf gpwafopwprti izxndkiqpkii krirrifcapnc dxkdciqcafmd vkfpcadf. #MissionMonday #NSA #news

— NSA Careers (@NSACareers) May 5, 2014

Some Twitter users believed the account to be hacked or hijacked by a disgruntled employee.

However, the NSA later confirmed the post was in code and formed part of a recruitment campaign.

Speaking to The Daily Dot, a spokeswoman said: "NSA is known as the code makers and code breakers.

"As part of our recruitment efforts to attract the best and the brightest, we will post mission related coded Tweets on Mondays in the month of May."

Within minutes of being published, the cryptic tweet was cracked.

Using a simple letter substitution, the tweet read as follows:

"Want to know what it takes to work at NSA? Check back each Monday in May as we explore career essentials to protect our nation."

The month-long campaign to find new recruits is just beginning and the puzzles are expected to increase in difficulty. Anyone who can crack the codes will attract the attention of NSA recruiters.