[Janelle Ward]

A new 50-cent coin covered in secret, coded messages has been released to mark the 75th anniversary of foreign intelligence cybersecurity agency the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).
The coins contain messages hidden by four layers of encryption with the ASD saying that anyone who can break the code would make a good recruit.
The 50,000 specialty coins are not intended for general circulation but are available for purchase from the Royal Australian Mint.
ASD director-general Rachel Noble said the coin celebrated the work of the agency’s members and the evolution of code-breaking.
“Back in World War II, our people, military and civilian, and mostly women … used pencil and paper to decode Japanese military codes, and then re-encode them to send them out to the Allies to let them know where Japanese war fighters were,” she said.
“We thought this was a really fun way to engage people in code-breaking with the hope that, if they make it through all four levels of coding on the coin, maybe they’ll apply for a job at the Australian Signals Directorate.”
Will you try to buy one of these coins?

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