Call of Duty Carries Recruitment Ad For GCHQ

The GCHQ arm of Britain’s intelligence services is to run an advertising campaign within Xbox Live online games in order to attract suitable people to its ranks.

GCHQ stands for the Government Communications Headquarters, and is a British intelligence agency based in Cheltenham responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the UK government and armed forces.

The adverts will appear within Xbox Live online games which includes Assassin’s Creed, and the hugely popular Call of Duty series of games. This includes the recently released blockbuster, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which grossed $550 million (£334 million) in the first five days of its launch.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the campaign will run for six weeks on Microsoft’s internet-connected Xbox Live platform, which connects gamers all over the world.

The newspaper said computer gamers often match the criteria they are seeking, such as quick thinking, problem solving and team work. Xbox Live’s main demographic, 18- to 34-year-olds, is also a good fit for GCHQ apparently.

The campaign will include ads on the Xbox Live “dashboard” and within games through streamed video banners.

“As well as tackling ‘traditional threats’ GCHQ’s work is also about helping government departments, such as the Ministry of Defence, to protect their information and communication systems,” a GCHQ spokeswoman told the newspaper.

“This means we can offer excellent training and careers for people with specialist technical skills. However, the fact remains that many potential candidates remain unaware of GCHQ and what we do. Using video on Xbox Live helps carry our message to the right people in a creative and innovative manner,” she added.

The use of adverts in computer games reflects the recruitment problems experienced by governmental departments struggling to find talented security professionals. Last month, the director of the US National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC) admitted to eWEEK Europe UK that the US government must “walk a line” when it came to hiring individuals who could be perceived as “hackers”.