Cracking Codes like GCHQ

We have intercepted data from the Deiran Ministry Of InterNational Intelligence Gathering (MOINIG). We need you to decipher their codes to establish what, if any, concern there is for the Republic of Rheged and its affairs.

If there’s any further messages, we’ll send them your way.

First Contact

Whispered secrets linger in the air,
Eyes unseen, yet I feel their stare.

All my thoughts laid bare, exposed,
Reality shifts, as tension grows.
Every moment, a silent decree,

Bound by the gaze that follows me.
Echoes of footsteps, shadows that creep,
In the stillness, I struggle to keep.
Not a soul in sight, yet I sense the dread,
Glimmers of presence, where silence has tread.

Watching and waiting, the unseen plight,
Anxiety swells in the depth of the night.
Truth feels elusive, a game of disguise,
Caught in the web of unblinking eyes.
Hidden observers, their motives unclear,
Every heartbeat whispers, “They’re always near.”
Dare I to move, or remain in this fear?

The Principles of Espionage

raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great distances entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State. the daily Expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces of silver. there will be Commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop down exhausted on the highways.

what enables the wise sovereign to achieve things beyond the Understanding of ordinary men, is foreknowledge. now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be Retained from Experience, nor by any deductive Calculation.

knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can Only be obtained from other Men. hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes.

when the five kinds of spy are all at work, it is called “divine Manipulation of the threads.” it is the Sovereign’s most precious faculty.

having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district. having inward spies, making use of officials in the Network of the enemy. having converted spies, getting hold of the enemy’s spies and using them for our Own purposes.

having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our spies to know of them and report them to the enemy. surviving spies, finally, are those Who bring back news from the enemy’s camp.

hence it is that which none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies. none should be more liberally rewarded. in no other business should greater secrecy be preserved. spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity. they cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness. without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports. be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.

if a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told.

Basis of Encoding

It appears they’ve realised their channel is compromised. We can still get data for you, but you might need to do a bit more work to extract the meaning. Given that, you should probably start reporting certain details instead of entire messages.

With that in mind, can you work out the name of the operation that MOINIG are planning?

 79 112 101 114   97 116 105 111
110  32  79  83   87  73  78  69
 32 109 117 115  116  32 115 117
 99  99 101 101  100  32  97 116
 32  97 108 108   32  99 111 115
116 115  46

Who are they searching for?

01010111 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011
00100000 01001111 01110111 01100001 01101001 01101110 00111111

What’s the status of the target’s location?

0011 0000 0010

Where do they think they might find more information about the target?

For a write-up about questions using the following data, see this.

4E 18 EF 99 80 2D 67 8A 59 21 A0 5F 08 00 45 00
00 3B 00 01 00 00 40 11 A1 F8 90 20 80 73 01 01
01 01 61 7D 00 35 00 27 40 00 00 00 01 00 00 01
00 00 00 00 00 00 06 73 65 6E 61 74 65 03 67 6F
76 02 72 68 00 00 01 00 01

If you’ve seen this kind of message before, it would be useful to know who sent it and where from. We’ll increase surveillance there.

We intercepted a stream of messages from the President of Rheged’s office. Is there anything important that the Deirans are being told?

KBZGK43JMRSW45BANVQWEICVOJUWK3RANRSWC5TFOMQGM33SEBCGKZTOMFUW45BAORXW42LHNB2A====

J%7 IA* C5C8BJE*1ADZCJQE+8DMVCTVDRTCX.CBJE3WE/PDN44O.C944SUE1A64G7Z36HWE5/DC3DSUEE4FAWEB44AEC5UDPQEI3D*34$59UW6

That information is classified - it shouldn’t be given to the receptionist, let alone an enemy state! Who sent those transmissions?

VGhhbmsgeW91IGZvciB0aGUgaW5mb3JtYXRpb24sIFNlY3JldGFyeSBLZW50aWdlcm4uIFlvdXIgcmV3YXJkIHdpbGwgYmUgcHJvdmlkZWQgaW4gdGhlIHVzdWFsIG1hbm5lci4 

Why on earth would such a high ranking member of staff do such a thing?

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