# Ever wanted to be a cryptographer? Now's your chance. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696 "2011-12-01T13:40:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/1 "2011-12-01T13:40:09Z")
GCHQ, the British intelligence agency, is recruiting cryptographers. They have launched [http://www.canyoucrackit.co.uk/](http://www.canyoucrackit.co.uk/) as preliminary test. If you’ve ever wanted to see if you could have what it takes to be a master codebreaker- now might be your chance! ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/2 "2011-12-01T13:59:02Z")
Or not!?!? ---
**Author:** ![Seren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Seren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seren)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/3 "2011-12-02T01:18:27Z")
That’s really neat. I wish I knew more about modern ciphers. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/4 "2011-12-02T02:20:46Z")
I cracked it. It says, “Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.” A crummy commercial! ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/5 "2011-12-02T02:52:22Z")
Um…a hex? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/6 "2011-12-02T04:01:25Z")
The magic words are “squeamish ossifrage”. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/7 "2011-12-02T04:52:38Z")
Stupid question alert The letters only go up to “f” just like in computer machine code. What is the reason for that in machine code? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/8 "2011-12-02T04:58:45Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Stupid question alert > > The letters only go up to “f” just like in computer machine code. What is the reason for that in machine code? It’s hexadecimal. The numbers 10-15 are represented by the letters A-F. So positionally, ```auto 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 (decimal) is 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F (hexadecimal) ``` ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/9 "2011-12-02T05:36:00Z")
> [@Seren](#): > > That’s really neat. I wish I knew more about modern ciphers. I doubt this is a modern cipher. All modern encryption schemes typically output a stream of bytes that ‘looks random’, as in, there are no patterns to latch on to. This has tons of structure, not least the repeated 00s and ffs. I might have a go at it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/10 "2011-12-02T05:42:32Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Stupid question alert > > The letters only go up to “f” just like in computer machine code. What is the reason for that in machine code? Yeah, it looks suspiciously like a hex dump to me, but I don’t know enough about that to crack it. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/11 "2011-12-02T05:42:43Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > It’s hexadecimal. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/12 "2011-12-02T16:36:45Z")
Last year I was in Wal-mart and overheard two young college-aged guys talking. “Are you going to play again tonight? That was so much fun! I’ve never played anything like that before.” “It was like code-breaking! I’m going to X’s to play again.” On like that for a bit. Then I heard “I got a triple-word score and used all my letters!” They were so excited about playing Scrabble. 😃 StG ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/13 "2011-12-02T17:41:12Z")
Interesting… I didn’t see anything on there about what “passing” this challenge does for you in a concrete sense. I suppose it doesn’t guarantee you a job (or a visa since I think I would need one to work over there). Does it get you in the door to an interview? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/14 "2011-12-02T23:05:49Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Interesting… > > I didn’t see anything on there about what “passing” this challenge does for you in a concrete sense. I suppose it doesn’t guarantee you a job (or a visa since I think I would need one to work over there). Does it get you in the door to an interview? Actually, if you Google around, you can find the solution to this and some more information about it. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/15 "2011-12-02T23:47:34Z")
(nvmd… Beaten to the obvious) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/16 "2011-12-03T00:03:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Actually, if you Google around, you can find the solution to this and some more information about it. The whole thing’s a joke. For a start, it’s not a cypher in any meaningful sense, and solving it requires you know the specifics of one particular brand of microprocessor. There’s no test of cryptographic skill. It just relies on people being able to recognise x86 opcodes. > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I didn’t see anything on there about what “passing” this challenge does for you in a concrete sense. I suppose it doesn’t guarantee you a job (or a visa since I think I would need one to work over there). Does it get you in the door to an interview? No, you get taken to a congratulations screen with a link to the standard GCHQ careers page, urging you to apply. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/17 "2011-12-03T03:52:08Z")
Oh well that’s a bit shit then. (Not the taking you to the recruitment page - I knew that - but the stupid ‘non-cipher’ do-you-know-machine-code crap) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/18 "2011-12-03T05:21:21Z")
There’s nothing new in this. Intelligence agencies, in the U.K., the U.S., and various other countries, have for decades been recruiting for new employees through advertisements in newspapers, at job fairs, by recruiters sent to universities, through websites, and by various other methods. The website in the OP may be a clever advertisement, but it doesn’t get you any closer to being hired. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/19 "2011-12-03T06:12:21Z")
Let me just get my fingerprinting dust and heat analyzing machine out and … er, wait… ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696/20 "2011-12-05T19:11:00Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Does it get you in the door to an interview? I think Alec Baldwin sends some guys to kill you. Do you know Bruce Willis by any chance? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-wanted-to-be-a-cryptographer-nows-your-chance/604696.md?page=2)