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Challenge 2

Deadlines

This challenge closed on 11/11/2020. See below for the correct answers.

Practice Mission Briefing 2A: Instructions

Hni piwvyjh qb hni bgvoh egoogqx gxhivwijh nko vkgoip k xaediv qb caiohgqxo kdqah hni ojywlgoh qjivkhgqx, gb hnkh go mnkh gh go, dah gh nko kloq hvguuivip ixcagvgio kdqah hni jivoqxxil vibivixwip gx hnkh eiookui. Qav wqaxhivgxhillguixwi axgh nkti kosip ei hq hkos yqa mghn ixcagvgio kdqah hni xkeio eixhgqxip hnivi, gx jkvhgwalkv: Zioogwk; Mglnile; Xgsqlkao; Hgvjghrabiv. Gh go jqoogdli hnkh hnioi kvi joiapqxyeo qv wqpi xkeio, dah hniy pq xqh kjjikv gx qav viwqvpo kxp WG dvkxwn mqalp di tivy gxhiviohip gx kxyhngxu yqa wkx bgxp qah kdqah hnie gx vilkhgqx hq Xkrg ojy qjivkhgqxo. G bqllqmip aj qx hni OGO vijqvh hnkh Nghliv Yqahn uvqajo hvktillgxu kdvqkp mivi kosip hq wqejlihi k pihkglip caiohgqxxkgvi, wniwsgxu gb Nkvvy nkp lgxso hnkh wqalp nilj mghn hngo, kxp ni oixh ei hni khhkwnip eiookui hnkh mko jnqhquvkjnip dy k DQOO axpivwqtiv qjivkhgti gx Divlgx. Ni hqlp ei hnkh gh nkp diix ifbglhvkhip bvqe Kdminv nikpcakvhivo kxp kjjikvo hq di k vicaioh bqv kjjvqtkl bqv k xim egoogqx, hnqaun xighniv N xqv G nkti nkp hgei hq dviks gh, oq G lqqs bqvmkvp hq viwigtgxu yqav piwvyjho. Mi dilgiti hni eiookui nko diix ixwgjnivip aogxu k siymqvp oadohghahgqx wgjniv kxp ugtix hnkh mi kvi xqh oavi nqm oivgqao hni ojywlgoh hnvikh egunh di mi mqalp di uvkhibal gb yqa wqalp piwgjniv gh cagwsly. Hni eiookui mko kloq k viegxpiv hq ei hnkh qav qmx oiwavghy go kx gejqvhkxh wqxogpivkhgqx, oq G mgll kloq omghwn hq k siymqvp oadohghahgqx wgjniv bqv hni xifh Egoogqx Dvgibgxu. Jikvl.

A

B

Official Decrypt

Top Secret: For your eyes only

The decrypt of the first mission intercept has raised a number of questions about the spyclist operation, if that is what it is, but it has also triggered enquiries about the personnel referenced in that message. Our counterintelligence unit have asked me to task you with enquiries about the names mentioned there, in particular: Jessica; Wilhelm; Nikolaus; Tirpitzufer. It is possible that these are pseudonyms or code names, but they do not appear in our records and CI branch would be very interested in anything you can find out about them in relation to Nazi spy operations. I followed up on the SIS report that Hitler Youth groups travelling abroad were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire, checking if Harry had links that could help with this, and he sent me the attached message that was photographed by a BOSS undercover operative in Berlin. He told me that it had been exfiltrated from Abwehr headquarters and appears to be a request for approval for a new mission, though neither H nor I have had time to break it, so I look forward to receiving your decrypts. We believe the message has been enciphered using a keyword substitution cipher and given that we are not sure how serious the spyclist threat might be we would be grateful if you could decipher it quickly. The message was also a reminder to me that our own security is an important consideration, so I will also switch to a keyword substitution cipher for the next Mission Briefing. Pearl.

Practice Mission Intercept 2B: Not an enigma

AKKHCKUDC N DLI ZUJJUDC KD HZBHE JPZFAKTUJHIJ UC KTH LX HJKABYUJTZHCK UJ SDUCS NHYY AYKTDLST KTH IHWHCK UCWIHAJH UC EUFYDZAKUW KHCJUDC TAJ JUSCURUWACKYP UCWIHAJHE KTH IUJX RDI DLI ASHCKJ UC WDZZLCUWAKUCS NUKT KTHUI TACEYHIJ. NUKT KHYHSIAZ KIARRUW LCEHI HCTACWHE JLFHIMUJUDC BP KTH LX UCKHYYUSHCWH DISACUJAKUDCJ UK UJ AYJD UCWIHAJUCSYP EURRUWLYK RDI KTH ASHCKJ ACE KTHUI TACEYHIJ KD IHFAKIUAKH UCKHYYUSHCWH IHFDIKJ DR ACP JUSCURUWACWH. KTH LJH DR BACXUCS WUFTHIJ UJ CD YDCSHI IHSAIEHE AJ JHWLIH ACE EHJFUKH UKJ DBMUDLJ AEMACKASHJ, KTH HCUSZA UJ KDD MAYLABYH KD LJ KD AYYDN UKJ LJH BHTUCE HCHZP YUCHJ. RDI CDN, NH AIH HCWDLIASUCS DLI ASHCKJ KD LJH A ZUO DR XHPNDIE ACE KIACJFDJUKUDC WUFTHIJ AJ KALSTK UC KTHUI BAJUW KIAUCUCS, JUCWH KTHJH AIH IHYUABYH ACE ED CDK IHGLUIH KTH ASHCKJ KD BH UC FDJJHJJUDC DR ZDIH KTAC A JHIUHJ DR XHP NDIEJ ACE FTIAJHJ, NTUWT KTHP AIH NHYY ABYH KD ZHZDIUJH. AJ KTH GLACKUKP DR JUSCAYJ KIARRUW UCWIHAJHJ NH NUYY CHHE KD IHWDCJUEHI DLI FIDKDWDYJ, BLK RDI CDN U KTUCX DLI RDWLJ JTDLYE BH DC EHMHYDFUCS JHWLIH WDZZLCUWAKUDC WTACCHYJ, NUKT WLK-DLKJ KD UJDYAKH DLI ZDIH MAYLABYH AJJHKJ. U EUJWLJJHE KTUJ UJJLH NUKT ZP WDLCKHIFAIK UC EHFAIKZHCK UT NTD UJ A XHHC WPWYUJK ACE TH ZAEH A IAKTHI UCSHCUDLJ JLSSHJKUDC KTAK NH ZUSTK ZAXH SDDE LJH DR KTH TUKYHI PDLKT. A CLZBHI DR FAIKUHJ TAMH BHHC UCMUKHE KD MUJUK KTH LX DC WPWYUCS KDLIJ ACE TH TAE BHHC WDCJUEHIUCS AJXUCS KTHZ KD IHWDIE UCRDIZAKUDC ABDLK KTH YAPDLK DR ZUYUKAIP ACE UCELJKIUAY YACEZAIXJ AJ FAIK DR TUJ UCKHYYUSHCWH SAKTHIUCS DFHIAKUDC. UK UJ TUSTYP YUXHYP KTAK ACP NAI NUYY UCMDYMH A FIDKIAWKHE BDZBUCS WAZFAUSC ACE LF KD EAKH ZAFJ NUYY BH DR SIHAK MAYLH UC DLI FYACCUCS. RLIKTHIZDIH, KTH WDLCKIPJUEH IDAE YAPDLKJ UC KTH LX AIH CDKDIUDLJ RDI KTHUI UCHRRUWUHCWP ACE ACP UCMAJUDC, NDLYE BH JHMHIHYP TAZFHIHE BP DLI YAWX DR XCDNYHESH DR KIACJFDIK CHKNDIXJ. TH TAE EIARKHE AC AFFAIHCKYP IAKTHI UCCDWLDLJ AIKUWYH RDI KTH CAQU WPWYUJK AJJDWUAKUDC ZASAQUCH NUKT A YUJK DR KTUCSJ KTAK DLI PDLCS WPWYUJKJ ZUSTK RUCE UCKHIHJKUCS: UZFIHJJ DC PDLI ZHZDIP KTH IDAEJ ACE FAKTJ, MUYYASHJ ACE KDNCJ, DLKJKACEUCS WTLIWT KDNHIJ ACE DKTHI YACEZAIXJ JD KTAK PDL NUYY CDK RDISHK KTHZ. ZAXH A CDKH DR KTH CAZHJ, FYAWHJ, IUMHIJ, JHAJ ACE ZDLCKAUCJ. FHITAFJ PDL ZAP BH ABYH KD LKUYUJH KTHJH JDZH KUZH RDI KTH BHCHRUK DR KTH RAKTHIYACE. JTDLYE PDL WDZH KD A BIUESH NTUWT UCKHIHJKJ PDL, HOAZUCH UKJ WDCJKILWKUDC ACE KTH ZAKHIUAYJ LJHE. YHAIC KD ZHAJLIH ACE HJKUZAKH KTH NUEKT DR JKIHAZJ. NAEH KTIDLST RDIEJ JD KTAK PDL NUYY BH ABYH KD RUCE KTHZ UC KTH EAIX. U FIDFDJH KTAK NH WDCJUEHI LJUCS KTHJH AJJHKJ AJ KTH WLK-DLKJ BHKNHHC DLI LCEHIWDMHI ASHCKJ ACE KTHUI TACEYHIJ UC KTH LX ACE DLI WDZZLCUWAKUDCJ CHKNDIX. KTHP AIH IHYAKUMHYP RIHH KD ZDMH AIDLCE KTH WDLCKIP ACE WAC HAJUYP BH KIAUCHE KD LJH EIDF-DRRJ ACE DKTHI JFPWIARK KD AYYDN KTHZ KD WDYYHWK UCKHYYUSHCWH IHFDIKJ ACE FAJJ KTHZ DC. KTH ZAIMHYYDLJ FDJKH IHJKACKH JPJKHZ AYYDNJ LJ KD WDZZLCUWAKH NUKT KTHZ, ACE A JLUKABYH WDEHBDDX NDLYE AYYDN LJ KD KIACJZUK UCJKILWKUDCJ UC FYAUC KHOK NUKT CD IUJX KTAK KTH ZHACUCS WDLYE BH EUJWHICHE BP WDLCKHIUCKHYYUSHCWH DFHIAKUMHJ UC KTH FDJKAY JHIMUWH. U TAMH ACDKTHI KTDLSTK ABDLK TDN NH ZUSTK HOFYDUK KTUJ CHKNDIX RLIKTHI, TDNHMHI U CHHE KD NDIX KTIDLST JDZH ZDIH EHKAUYJ BHRDIH U EUJWLJJ UK NUKT PDL, ACE U NACKHE KD WTHWX KTAK PDL AIH TAFFP RDI ZH KD AYYDWAKH IHJDLIWHJ KD KIAUC A CLZBHI DR TUKYHI PDLKT UC KTH IHGLUIHE JXUYYJ RDI KTUJ DFHIAKUDC. CI.

Official Decrypt

Top Secret: For your eyes only

Attention W Our mission to embed sympathisers in the UK establishment is going well although the recent increase in diplomatic tension has significantly increased the risk for our agents in communicating with their handlers. With telegram traffic under enhanced supervision by the UK intelligence organisations it is also increasingly difficult for the agents and their handlers to repatriate intelligence reports of any significance. The use of banking ciphers is no longer regarded as secure and despite its obvious advantages, the Enigma is too valuable to us to allow its use behind enemy lines. For now, we are encouraging our agents to use a mix of keyword and transposition ciphers as taught in their basic training, since these are reliable and do not require the agents to be in possession of more than a series of key words and phrases, which they are well able to memorise. As the quantity of signals traffic increases we will need to reconsider our protocols, but for now I think our focus should be on developing secure communication channels, with cut-outs to isolate our more valuable assets. I discussed this issue with my counterpart in department IH who is a keen cyclist and he made a rather ingenious suggestion that we might make good use of the Hitler Youth. A number of parties have been invited to visit the UK on cycling tours and he had been considering asking them to record information about the layout of military and industrial landmarks as part of his intelligence gathering operation. It is highly likely that any war will involve a protracted bombing campaign and up to date maps will be of great value in our planning. Furthermore, the countryside road layouts in the UK are notorious for their inefficiency and any invasion, would be severely hampered by our lack of knowledge of transport networks. He had drafted an apparently rather innocuous article for the Nazi Cyclist Association magazine with a list of things that our young cyclists might find interesting: “Impress on your memory the roads and paths, villages and towns, outstanding church towers and other landmarks so that you will not forget them. Make a note of the names, places, rivers, seas and mountains. Perhaps you may be able to utilise these some time for the benefit of the Fatherland. Should you come to a bridge which interests you, examine its construction and the materials used. Learn to measure and estimate the width of streams. Wade through fords so that you will be able to find them in the dark.” I propose that we consider using these assets as the cut-outs between our undercover agents and their handlers in the UK and our communications network. They are relatively free to move around the country and can easily be trained to use drop-offs and other spycraft to allow them to collect intelligence reports and pass them on. The marvellous poste restante system allows us to communicate with them, and a suitable codebook would allow us to transmit instructions in plain text with no risk that the meaning could be discerned by counterintelligence operatives in the postal service. I have another thought about how we might exploit this network further, however I need to work through some more details before I discuss it with you, and I wanted to check that you are happy for me to allocate resources to train a number of Hitler Youth in the required skills for this operation. NR.

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