Inside GCHQ: The Art of Spying in the Digital Age
Britain’s biggest intelligence service is rethinking its mission — and recruitment strategy
By David Bond
Five years ago, Rob, a 38-year-old father of two, was fitting kitchens and bathrooms for a living. Now he is a digital spy. As one of GCHQ’s army of cyber analysts, he monitors global counter-intelligence targets in countries he cannot disclose for national security reasons.
“You’re always looking for that key or that nugget that’s going to really help progress the operation,” he says, before adding proudly that his work often makes the headlines.
“I could be sitting eating my tea at home, and the news will be on, and I want to turn around to my wife and say, ‘I helped on that one.’ It feels great. But then you realise you can’t share it with anybody outside of work.”
Rob is not your typical GCHQ intelligence officer. Although he began his career in the Royal Air Force, he quit the military in 2007 to become a builder. It was only when he saw a recruitment ad on the back of a bus in Cheltenham — home to GCHQ’s gigantic circular headquarters — that he decided to join Britain’s biggest intelligence service.
