Quiz - Would You Make a Good Spy?

Test yourself for fun. Learn what makes a good spy. (Before you hire any TSCM inspection / counterespionage consultant make sure they know what makes a good spy, too.)

This quiz was originally published in, A Handbook for Spies, 1980, Wolfgang Lotz (a real spy), Harper & Row, Publishers, New York, NY and is available at amazon.com.

The following questionnaire has been designed to determine the degree of your suitability as a prospective secret agent. The results of this test will also indicate what type of spy or agent you are likely to become – for example, an informer, a “stinker”, a double agent, a resident, master spy, a spymaster.

These terms will be explained later. For the present you should approach the test with an open mind. You will not have to show your answers to anyone, and therefore you can afford to be absolutely honest in your replies.

There are three to five possible answers to each question. Mark the one that is closest to the truth, and after you have answered all ten questions, award yourself the number of points indicated in the key that follows the questionnaire. An evaluation of your point total and an analysis of each of the questions follows. You may study it at your leisure only after completing the test. (If you want an honest and comprehensive appraisal, don’t look ahead now.) THE SPY QUIZ

Can You Solve the GCHQ Christmas Card Challenge?

Today we've released the 2022 #GCHQChristmasChallenge. The puzzle, masterminded by a team of our in-house puzzlers, features on our Director's annual Christmas card. 

The card is sent to partners in the UK and around the world who work with us to counter threats, including hostile state activity, terror groups and organised crime gangs.

Whilst the Challenge has been designed for schools and colleges, we're also encouraging the wider public to take on the challenge to pit their wits against our puzzlers. more  video   And, of course, count on the Security Scrapbook to provide the solution.

Investigating Corporate Espionage - Quiz & Worksheet

Instructions: Choose an answer and hit 'next'. You will receive your score and answers at the end. (You can take the actual quiz here. Sign-up for an account is required.)

Quiz Question 1 of 3

What is corporate espionage?

A. Using illegal activities to discover proprietary, internal information about a company, its actions, and its products.

B. Using legal activities to discover proprietary, internal information about a company, its actions, and its products.

C. Looking through public records for information about a competitor.

D. Examining federal regulations to find out what a company can legally claim about a product.

Worksheet

1. What is competitive intelligence?

A. Information gained through ethical, legal means about a competitor, the market, and federal regulations

B. Information gained through unethical, illegal means about a competitor, the market, and federal regulations  

C. Any information that can be used against a competitor.

D. Racing competitors to find information.

2. What are trade secrets?

A. All public information about a company's product

B. Information about a company's external procedures

C. Proprietary information about a company's products, processes, and procedures that can only be obtained internally.

D. All answers are correct.

Riddle: The Spies With Stamps on Their Heads

Problem
Three super spies are caught sending sensitive information to an enemy state. These three double agents are apprehended and taken out to a remote spot in the woods. They are told that one of them will be part of a prisoner exchange, and the other two will be executed.

To decide who lives, the guards decide to play a game. They show the captives eight stamps: four red, and four green. They then blindfold the three men and stick two stamps to each of their foreheads. One of the guards puts the remaining two stamps in his pocket.

The guards then take the blindfolds off the captives, who can each see the stamps on the other two men's heads, but not the two stamps on their own head, and not the two stamps in the guard's pocket. These spies are highly intelligent—they're perfect logicians who know they can count on each other to correctly and quickly interpret the information they have.

The guard captain tells them that the first man to figure out the color of the stamps on his own head will be used for the prisoner exchange, and the other two will be executed. If anyone guesses wrong, they will be shot dead on the spot.

The captain then asks the spies in order if they know what color stamps they have on their head. The answers are as follows:

• A: "No."
• B: "No."
• C: "No."
• A: "No."
• B: "Yes."

Spy B answers correctly. What color are the stamps on his head, and how does he know?

Hint
Don't forget about the stamps in the guard's pocket. solution

Three Espionage Tests

Denmark - The EspionageTest is the name of a newly developed free online test designed to reveal whether businesses are vulnerable to industrial espionage.

“The test is designed to provide an immediate picture of a business’s strengths and weaknesses. It provides a picture of the business’s challenges and the areas that need strengthening. The test looks at digital security, employee behaviour, culture and physical security,” says Senior Consultant Christine Jøker Lohmann from the Confederation of Danish Industry who is a member of the project steering group.

Employee behaviour and technology are tested
The test, which has been financed by the Danish Industry Foundation and developed by the intelligence and security firm CERTA Intelligence & Security, requires businesses to answer questions covering all areas of security and tests both technology and employee behaviour.

In each area, businesses will be told how they score in terms of security and will be given specific tips and recommendations on how to improve or develop suitable protection against espionage... more

The EspionageTest – Launching on 23 August 2016 – will be freely available to all Danish businesses.

...and, from another point-of-view, take these two tests to see if you would be good at espionage...

Espionage Spy Test #1
Espionage Spy Test #2

Spybuster Tip # 523: Twitter Password Security Test

WARNING

The link below is a clever gag.
Similar sites are password collection scams.

If you take the test on any of them, don't enter real information.

http://www.ismytwitterpasswordsecure.com/

From our "Persistence is Futile" file...

Top code-breakers at one of Britain's intelligence agencies, the GCHQ, say they have failed to decipher a message found attached to the leg of a dead Second World War pigeon. (more)

Can YOU crack the code?
RE HHAT VM RIYNZ LXJT MJRBTXAN
Give up? Crack it here. Your code number is 1943.

Want a Job as a Spy? Start with a Code Cracking Quiz! (UPDATED)

UK - No longer content with simply approaching the brightest from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, intelligence agency GCHQ has launched a code-cracking competition to attract new talent.

Knowing what this is might help.

The electronic surveillance organisation, the UK Government Communications Headquarters, is asking potential applicants to solve a code posted on a website.

It will direct potential candidates to the competition, hosted on an anonymous website, via sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

If the layers of code it has set are cracked, applicants will be presented with a keyword to enter into a form field. They will then be re-directed to the GCHQ website, where hopefuls will find details of the types of roles which could reflect their skills.

The aim is to attract candidates who might not apply through more conventional channels. (more)

UPDATE:
A simple Google search unlocks the supposedly secret completion page to GCHQ's code-cracking competition.

The signals snooping agency launched a codebreaking competition this week, promoted via social networks, that aimed to find would be code breakers that conventional recruitment efforts might miss. The canyoucrackit.co.uk challenge involved making sense of a 16x10 grid of 8-bit hexadecimal numbers to figure out a password, and then developing a virtual machine to execute code that would lead to the final page.

Puzzle-solvers had 10 days to crack the codes. However instead of solving this puzzle, which was not trivial to conquer, at least if some of the emails we've received are any guide, the completion page could be reached via a simple Google search.

Oops.

"All it takes to find the page is to use the site: command in Google, as the 'Can You Crack It?' webmaster seemingly didn't hide the success page from search engines," Graham Cluley of net security firm Sophos explains. (more)

Answers to last week's spy quiz...

What is the name of this famous spy story town?

The Village. From the 60's TV show "The Prisoner".

What is its real name?

Portmeirion. Located in Wales.

Did I live there for a week?

Yes!

Cool place. 

Visit their webcam.

Better yet, go there for a week.

Can't go? 

Visit vicariously.

A Simple Three Question Spy Movie Quiz

Go here. 

I got 2 of three. 

See what you can do.

Here is one from me...

What is the name of this famous spy story town?

What is its real name?

Did I live there for a week?

Answers later next week.

Enjoy your weekend!

~Kevin

The Anna Chapman Spy Contest

Russian spy Anna Chapman has registered her name as a trademark to cash in on her growing popularity since she was deported in a Cold War-style swap last year, Russia's state patent agency told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Maybe she wants to open the 'Anna Chapman' dry-cleaner or make cookies," Nikolai Kravtsov, an official at the agency told Reuters... (more)

Some people become celebrities just from being named after a hotel, some for being a failed spy.

Anna's interesting time-line, July 2010 until now...

• U.S. sleeper spy who never awoke, was arrested and deported.

• Posed in lingerie for photo shoot.

• Attended a Russian space launch.

• Had a sing-along with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

• Nicknamed Agent "90-60-90" by the Russian press, referring to her alleged measurements.

• Attended a political youth rally.

• Attended a meeting of the commission on economic modernization and technological development of the Russian economy.

• Launched a weekly television show called "Mysteries of the World with Anna Chapman."

• Trademarks her name to pimp eight lines of merchandise, including vodka, clothing and watches.

So, what have you done since July?

 

FutureWatch: Anna Chapman has book signing at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC?

The first five corporate security directors (or similar, like Anna) to decipher the 5 AnnaGrams wins one of our "doesn't really work" (like Anna) break-a-way (like Anna) stainless steel (like Anna) lock pick sets. Place answers here.

Spybusters Contest - Level: Difficult

It could be said that this message was: written by two people; then decoded by two people; that three people were involved in these endeavors; and, none of these people ever met each other. Even decoded, the message is mysterious. A place mentioned, assumed to be a structure, turns out to be something quite different. What was it?

Click here to send me your answer.

(Enter your e-mail address, the rest is optional.)

The first three correct answers win.

If necessary, a clue will be posted tomorrow.

The One Minute TSCM Quiz

Our corporate clients are pretty smart. They learn quite a lot when they retain us. (They can ace this quiz.)

Think you know as much about TSCM and spybusting as they do?

Find out, take The One Minute TSCM Quiz.

If our quiz leaves you feeling up a pole, without a clue, you're not alone. Everyone starts that way.  Solution: Retain us in 2010.

"Quick. Name the Top Ten Spy Agencies."

We'll give you one...

Now, name the rest.
(answer)

Unclassified Info Only About 2 in 10 Know...

"How many millions are in a trillion?"
Give up? Look here for the answer.

Spies Need a Safe Place to Eat

The Safe House is located on the hard-to-find Front Street, which is basically an alley that runs one block west of Water Street between Wells and Mason Streets. The building -- adorned with a few flags -- does not have a Safe House sign, but does have a small placard that reads "International Exports Ltd."

After trying two other locked doors, the boys finally found an unlocked door that led them into a very small room with a large book shelf.

At night, guests are greeted by a person -- playing the role of "Ms. Moneypenny" from the James Bond films -- who asks for the password. During the day, however, a voice pipes through a speaker (this is a new feature) and asks if you know the password.

The password has not changed in four decades, but if you do not say it exactly right, you are asked to take a special "spy test" proving that you are indeed a spy who deserves entry into the Safe House. At night, the spy test can get a bit sassy, but when kids are involved, the test is G-rated, requiring those that don't know the password to like act like a monkey or hop on one foot.

Video cameras are hidden in the wall of the Safe House entry way, so unbeknownst to the new guests, diners are watching their antics on television screens inside the restaurant.

If you whisper the password correctly into the speaker, or once you pass the spy test if you didn't know the password, the faux book shelf opens like a door and allows you to walk down a hallway to the bar / restaurant. The Safe House opened in the late '60s, and since then, very little has changed. (more)

Prove you are a worthy secret agent, man.
Figure out Safe House's home city.
Be seeing you.
~ Kevin

Take the CIA Personality Quiz

Think you are ready for a career with the CIA. Let's see what they think about you... Take "The CIA Personality Quiz" They have many job openings and are looking for selfish types... self-reliant, self-disciplined, self-starters.

Here is what they had to say about me...
Guess I'll keep my day job.
(another spy personality quiz)