The government's intelligence and electronic surveillance organisation GCHQ, has released a tablet app for the first time, aimed at encouraging the next generation of security experts. The cleverly named app, Cryptoy, was designed by three students on an industrial placement and recounts the story of four former cyphers, one of which is the Enigma code used by the Germans in WW2 that was decoded at Bletchley Park, and was the subject of the recent film, The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. 

The app, which is free to download for Android devices, will also encrypt messages using the codes, and is meant to allow fun, secret messages to be sent – the emphasis being on fun, rather than any breaches of national security. GCHQ hopes that the app will encourage teenagers to become the cyber security sleuths of the future. A spokesperson for Cheltenham-based GCHQ was quoted as saying that the app was meant to be a teaching aid that was also a bit of fun, and could help teenagers learn something about the craft of code making, as well as code breaking.

Cryptoy, which showcases the substitution, shift, and vigenere cyphers (a method of encrypting alphabetical text), could encourage more youngsters to develop an interest in related disciplines such as maths, solving problems, and the kind of programming skills needed to create an app. The GCHQ spokeswoman said that programming skills and this kind of problem solving ability was highly relevant to a world in which the security of information was becoming increasingly important. 

Although not known for broadcasting what it does to the general public, GCHQ says the agency is keen, where possible, to be more open about some of the things they do, apart from when surveillance or other operations were a matter of national security. The Cryptoy app, which was first produced by the three students for a special cultural event at the Cheltenham Festival last year, can be downloaded from the GCHQ website, or directly from Google Play by all would-be cryptologists. A version of the app should be available for the Apple iPad some time next year.