GCHQ

The overview

Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is a UK intelligence agency. Part of the national intelligence machinery, GCHQ works alongside organisations such as the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). It began life as the Government Code and Cypher School in 1919 and became GCHQ following the Second World War.

GCHQ employs around 5,500 people. The workforce comprises technologists, language and culture specialists, mathematicians and corporate support. There are around 1,000 engineers and approximately 250 language specialists in the organisation.

Monitoring and protection

GCHQ is charged with protecting the UK’s national interests. Its work falls into two categories:

• Signals intelligence (SIGINT), which involves monitoring ‘signals’ traffic, ranging from telephone conversations to complex data transmitted via the internet.
• Information assurance (IA), which is the protection of government data and information. This is administered by the Communications-Electronics Security Group (CESG), an organisation within GCHQ.

SIGINT

Most people are aware that UK intelligence agencies have the capacity to intercept communications, and this forms a significant part of the work of GCHQ. The SIGINT process involves monitoring communications in order to build up intelligence. GCHQ operatives may monitor data that is transferred via the internet, perhaps attempting to decipher the contents of encrypted information. Alternatively, they may provide information to military units that has been intercepted from phone calls made by opposition forces in combat areas.

An initial £63 million has been set aside to combat the growing threat of cyber attack.

Despite the myths and negative Orwellian connotations, accessing the personal e-mails and calls of the UK population is not a major aspect of the work. GCHQ has neither the capacity nor the inclination to monitor everybody’s communications; rather, the emphasis is on a directed approach to information, targeting the most significant threats, with access always backed up by a warrant signed by the secretary of state.

Focusing on the threats

The parliamentary intelligence and security committee report for 2010/2011 highlighted some of the main threats to the UK national interest, which form a focus for the work of GCHQ:

• International counter-terrorism (ICT). GCHQ’s ICT work has recently focused on Yemen and east Africa, as well as areas in Asia and Pakistan. ICT is not limited to monitoring communications and producing intelligence, however, and has included tasks such as aviation security planning. ICT accounted for around a third of GCHQ’s activity in 2009/10.
• Non-ICT. Non-ICT tasks have involved supporting the military, particularly in Afghanistan and other locations in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. In addition, non-ICT activities include actions to combat nuclear and chemical weapons proliferation, hostile foreign activity, electronic attacks and serious criminal activity.
• Information assurance (IA). CESG is the group responsible for information assurance activities at GCHQ. CESG conducts research and provides IA services to government departments and industry.

Changing threats

Cyber security has been identified as an area of growing importance. Increased funding has been provided (an initial £63 million has been set aside) and a strategy has been devised to help keep up with the rapid pace of innovation in the cyber sphere. This involves:

• Protection, through the activities of CESG
• Analysis, by the Network Defence Intelligence and Security team
• Intelligence gathering
• Looking at military capability by working with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

The agency also recently announced new partnerships with 8 UK universities including Bristol, Belfast, Imperial College London and Southampton, under which they will become centres of excellence in the field of cyber security research.

Structure, partnerships and collaborations

GCHQ teams collaborate with a variety of other agencies, departments, partners and customers. GCHQ staff may work with the MoD and the Defence Science and Technology Lab on military capabilities regarding cyber security. Their research and development programmes involve collaboration between in-house teams, outside agencies, academic institutions and partners from industry. In order to drive down costs, GCHQ works with intelligence and other government departments when procuring equipment and services from outside contractors.

Salary and benefits

Salaries for graduates at GCHQ vary from role to role. Entry-level graduates typically earn salaries in the mid-£20k range. Applicants should refer to the job specification of their desired role for more information.

Other perks

• 22 days' holiday per annum - this rises to 25 after the first year, and 30 after 10 years
• Generous pension – GCHQ staff are members of the civil service pension scheme
• Paid and unpaid special leave – for special occasions, voluntary/sporting commitments etc
• Flexible working options
• Childsplay, a holiday play scheme during school holidays for children aged 4 to 14
• Employee assistance service – general staff support
• Consultation and partnership working – communication with trade unions
• Performance-related pay, reviewed each October.

Culture and values

GCHQ is a UK intelligence agency and obviously requires secrecy to carry out its work effectively. Despite this, GCHQ is more visible than it has been in the past. Long gone are the days of government denial – GCHQ’s existence was officially acknowledged in 1983. In recent years, all of the intelligence agencies have made moves to communicate on a greater scale and to put more information into the public domain, following calls from politicians, the media and the public for greater accountability.

Secrecy and security

Inevitably, the first question people ask about GCHQ is: how secret is it? Staff are not allowed to talk about their work outside of the office, and are only allowed to tell close family and their partner about where they work. Under the Official Secrets Act it is an offence to disclose information about intelligence or security, and employees are made aware of this upon joining the organisation.

Inevitably, the first question people ask about GCHQ is: how secret is it?

Staff undergo rigorous checks during the application process through developed vetting clearance. Criminal records checks are carried out and the candidate’s personal circumstances are assessed. The aim of this is not only to ensure that employing the person is not risky for the organisation; once vulnerabilities are assessed, GCHQ can help manage these and hopefully give the employee any support that may be necessary.

Professionalism and the public sector

GCHQ is a professional organisation and, like other civil service departments, it makes use of private sector methods in its work. The new GCHQ building at Benhall (referred to by staff as ‘the doughnut’) promotes this modern business approach with open-plan offices and informal meeting areas.

Fast-paced but methodical

GCHQ insists that television and film renderings of intelligence gathering are very different from the real thing. The work environment can be pressured due to the nature of the material that is handled and staff may need to work at a fast pace. Intelligence gathering is often a long-term process, however, with blocks of information built up over time and through a variety of channels. The often disparate information is collated in order to develop a more detailed picture of a particular area of interest.

The Bourne Supremacy it is not.

The development of the internet has seen a change in the organisation’s work timeframes, particularly within the information assurance division that protects government information. Threats in the cyber world now have to be dealt with in hours and days, rather weeks and months, so that important and sensitive information isn’t compromised.