For this in-depth cover story, writer Danny Palmer looked at Britain’s GCHQ to find out what happens when a top secret intelligence agency turns to entrepreneurs to help build new tools to protect a nation from cyberattacks. This download provides the magazine version of the article as a free PDF for registered TechRepublic and ZDNet members. The online version of this story is available here.

From the story:

Intelligence agencies are good at finding and keeping secrets, and at working patiently in the shadows. Startups are good at promoting themselves, moving fast, and breaking things–in an effort to build the next big technology. It’s hard to think of two mindsets that are further apart.

But in a world of constantly evolving cybersecurity threats, Britain’s GCHQ spy agency decided to open a startup accelerator to bridge the gap between the two: to see, if it was a little more open, it could help the private sector build tools to prevent future cyberattacks.

Read the rest of the story in this PDF download.