enigma machine
Stealing secrets
Arthur Scherbius, a German engineer, developed his 'Enigma' machine, capable
of transcribing coded information, in the hope of interesting commercial
companies in secure communications. In 1923 he set up his Chiffriermaschinen
Aktiengesellschaft (Cipher Machines Corporation) in Berlin to manufacture his
product. Within three years the German navy was producing its own version,
followed by the army in 1928 and the air force in 1933.
Enigma allowed an operator to type in a message, then scramble it by using
three to five notched wheels, or rotors, which displayed different letters of
the alphabet. The receiver needed to know the exact settings of these rotors in
order to reconstitute the coded text. Over the years the basic machine became
more complicated as German code experts added plugs with electronic
circuits.
Britain and her allies first understood the problems posed by this machine in
1931, when Hans Thilo Schmidt, a German spy, allowed his French spymasters to
photograph stolen Enigma operating manuals. Initially, however, neither French
nor British cryptanalysts could make headway in breaking the Enigma cipher.
It was only after they had handed over details to the Polish Cipher Bureau
that progress was made. Helped by its closer links to the German engineering
industry, the Poles managed to reconstruct an Enigma machine, complete with
internal wiring, to read the German forces’ messages between 1933 and 1938.
Ultra Intelligence
With German invasion imminent in 1939, the Poles opted to share their secrets
with the British, and Britain's Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS)
at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, became the centre for Allied efforts to
keep up with dramatic war-induced changes in Enigma output.
Top mathematicians and general problem-solvers were recruited and a bank of
early computers, known as 'bombes', was built to work out the Enigma’s vast
number of settings.
TThe Germans were convinced that Enigma output could not be broken, so they
used the machine for all sorts of communications on the battlefield, at sea, in
the sky and, significantly, within its secret services. The British described
any intelligence gained from Enigma as 'Ultra', and considered it top
secret.
Only a select few commanders were made aware of the full significance of
Ultra, and used it sparingly to prevent the Germans realising their ciphers had
been broken.
By Andrew Lycett
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/topics/enigma
Arthur Scherbius, a German engineer, developed his 'Enigma' machine, capable
of transcribing coded information, in the hope of interesting commercial
companies in secure communications. In 1923 he set up his Chiffriermaschinen
Aktiengesellschaft (Cipher Machines Corporation) in Berlin to manufacture his
product. Within three years the German navy was producing its own version,
followed by the army in 1928 and the air force in 1933.
Enigma allowed an operator to type in a message, then scramble it by using
three to five notched wheels, or rotors, which displayed different letters of
the alphabet. The receiver needed to know the exact settings of these rotors in
order to reconstitute the coded text. Over the years the basic machine became
more complicated as German code experts added plugs with electronic
circuits.
Britain and her allies first understood the problems posed by this machine in
1931, when Hans Thilo Schmidt, a German spy, allowed his French spymasters to
photograph stolen Enigma operating manuals. Initially, however, neither French
nor British cryptanalysts could make headway in breaking the Enigma cipher.
It was only after they had handed over details to the Polish Cipher Bureau
that progress was made. Helped by its closer links to the German engineering
industry, the Poles managed to reconstruct an Enigma machine, complete with
internal wiring, to read the German forces’ messages between 1933 and 1938.
Ultra Intelligence
With German invasion imminent in 1939, the Poles opted to share their secrets
with the British, and Britain's Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS)
at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, became the centre for Allied efforts to
keep up with dramatic war-induced changes in Enigma output.
Top mathematicians and general problem-solvers were recruited and a bank of
early computers, known as 'bombes', was built to work out the Enigma’s vast
number of settings.
TThe Germans were convinced that Enigma output could not be broken, so they
used the machine for all sorts of communications on the battlefield, at sea, in
the sky and, significantly, within its secret services. The British described
any intelligence gained from Enigma as 'Ultra', and considered it top
secret.
Only a select few commanders were made aware of the full significance of
Ultra, and used it sparingly to prevent the Germans realising their ciphers had
been broken.
By Andrew Lycett
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/topics/enigma