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Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

abc.net.au

1–10 of 113 posts

Re: Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

#2
ASD - 75th Anniversary Commemorative Coin : https://www.asd.gov.au/75th-anniversary/events/2022-09-01-75...

70th Anniversary of ASIO – Marked with New 50-Cent Coin by Royal Australian Mint : https://www.ramint.gov.au/publications/70th-anniversary-asio...

Re: Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

#5
post #4

They really would like for us not to think its being solved by a 14 y.o. the same morning is a debacle. But it is.

> There's a challenge out there to see who can correctly break all the layers, and, would you believe it, yesterday the coin was launched at 8:45am; we put up our web form and said, 'Hey, if you think you've got the answers, fill in the form'," she said.

It’s just a game for them to popularize code breaking and do some youth recruiting.

Re: Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

#6

It's funny to see a coin like this minted considering the Australian government's position on encryption and privacy (well, not just Australia - pretty much any other Commonwealth country too).

Nah it makes perfect sense, normalizing encryption that 14 year olds can break in an hour is totally in line with Australian government policy.

Re: Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

#8
post #6

It's funny to see a coin like this minted considering the Australian government's position on encryption and privacy (well, not just Australia - pretty much any other Commonwealth country too).

Nah it makes perfect sense, normalizing encryption that 14 year olds can break in an hour is totally in line with Australian government policy.

This would be funny if it wouldn’t actually be sad.

Re: Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

#9
post #7

> She also revealed today that there was a fifth level of encryption on the coin which no one had broken yet. Now, how believable is that?

Reminds me of the Kryptos sculpture installed at CIA HQ - the last passage still hasn't been solved yet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kryptos

Re: Australian Signals Directorate coin code cracked by 14yo in 'just over an hour'

#10
post #4

They really would like for us not to think its being solved by a 14 y.o. the same morning is a debacle. But it is.

Debacle? :) It is a puzzle made to entertain and popularise the institution. People solving it is the goal.

Your comment reminds me of this XKCD: https://xkcd.com/932/

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