Sneak a Peek at the NSA Coloring Book

Can you imagine the National Security Agency (NSA) and “fun” in the same sentence? Here it is: the NSA has created something called The CryptoKids Fun Book, part coloring book, part activity book—and all government recruiting.

The book is the creation of graphic designer David Darchicourt, whose characters—including Sergeant Sam, Decipher Dog, Crypto Cat, and Rosetta Stone (“Rosie” for short)—make surveillance operations look like child’s play.

Want to know more? Well, you can’t. Journalist Jason Koebler was curious about the book’s inception, so he submitted a Freedom of Information Act request in April of 2015. Eight months later, an NSA representative told him that fulfilling his request might take up to four years.

We do have the next best thing: the book itself. Scroll down to see a few select pages, and click here to see the whole thing.

Crypto Cat is the happiest Information Assurance Analyst we've ever seen. Also the only one we've ever seen.

Bonus: You can print out this article and save it for the next time you're bored at your desk. Free puzzles!

This picture raises so many questions, beginning with that V-neck.

Just a little test to make sure you're retaining your CryptoKids facts.

Socket just learned the hard way not to touch an engineer's stuff.

All images courtesy of the National Security Agency.