Cryptographic Technicians

You can begin exploring your interest in this field by joining groups involved with cryptography, such as the American Cryptogram Association (ACA), and reading their journals, such as the ACA's The Cryptogram. Learn how to do some computer programming. This will give you experience working with codes and computers. Visit Codeacademy (https://www.codecademy.com), edX (https://www.edx.org), Coursera (https://www.coursera.org), and Khan Academy (https://www.khanacademy.org), where you can learn how to code for free.

If your high school has math and computer science clubs, join them.

Participate in summer programs offered by colleges and universities and intelligence agencies. For example, the National Security Agency offers a Gifted and Talented Program for high school seniors who are interested in engineering, math, and science. Students who are accepted into the program work 40 hours per week for 10 to 12 weeks during the summer following their senior year of high school. Visit https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/nsa/students-and-internships to learn more about this and other NSA programs.

You may also want to check out Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) programs offered by the different branches of military service. These may provide some introduction to cryptographic techniques.

Visit the National Cryptologic Museum (https://www.nsa.gov/museum) in Ft. Meade, Maryland. It features thousands of cryptology-related artifacts, including commercial code books, declassified NSA documents, and transcribed oral histories.

The American Cryptogram Association offers a variety of free cryptographic-related downloads at https://www.cryptogram.org/resource-area.