‘Hello world’ Spy agency GCHQ opens Twitter account

SPY listening post GCHQ has been keeping tabs on security threats for years.

ow the secretive agency has emerged from the shadows with a Twitter account. 

Learn more about the birth of British Signals Intelligencehttps://t.co/3nkdWCaacO pic.twitter.com/CZGW8dNcra

— GCHQ (@GCHQ) 16 мая 2016 г.

Its first post, sent at 11.02am yesterday from @GCHQ, simply said: “Hello, world.” 

A spokesman said the move came “as we become more open about the work we do to keep Britain safe”. 

It will tweet about cyber security, jobs and set brainteasers. 

The spokesman said: "We know that some will say we're joining the Twitter party slightly late but we're the first intelligence agency in the UK to do this and it's a big step for the organisation as we become more open about the work we do to keep Britain safe.

"We want GCHQ to be more accessible and to help the public understand more about our work, whilst also reaching out to the technical community and adding our voice to social media conversations about technology, maths, cyber security and other topics where we have a view."

But as for its cloak-and-dagger activities, it said: “Some things have to stay secret, sorry.”