Fancy yourself as James Bond? Take on the #sophospuzzle and win a NERF gun…

Attention all #sophospuzzle fans!

(And anyone who likes crosswords, brain teasers, number puzzles, anagrams, wordplay, trivia quizzes and so forth.)

There’s a new #sophospuzzle on the go!

Previous #sophospuzzles have asked you to find the location of a restaurant from a photo of its menu, unravel a hidden message from the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and work out a cryptographic conundrum involving birthdays.

This time, the theme is Skyfall and Bond, James Bond. You’ll handle a field message from another agent, decode a data file stolen from M’s computer, and unravel a secret location – all in a day’s work for the world’s best-dressed secret agent.

To get started with the puzzle, put your tuxedo on, pick up martini, and join Bond at the craps table (that’s by way of a hint, albeit a slightly oblique one).

Apply a touch of lateral thinking and a bit of search engine tinkering to work out how to convert the text below into a URL:

Then head over to the URL to take on the next stage of the puzzle.

The puzzle proper starts at 1pm on Friday 02 November 2012, San Francisco time.

You’ll have until 1pm on Monday 05 November 2012, also San Francisco time, to solve it. (That’s 2012-11-05T21:00Z, and that’s a hint for later, as it happens.)

When you’ve solved it, email your answer to duck@sophos.com.

The first ten correct answers will receive a cool new Naked Security T-shirt. Two names drawn randomly from the correct answers will receive NERF gun prizes.

Happy solving!