Flaw in the Enigma Code - Numberphile
video description
There were several bombe's built in the US. The UK built one and the US built 14 to 100+ depending on what source you believe. Supposedly the US ran the Bombe code each morning in relays with all the machines we had and sent the results to Blechley Park over the trans Atlantic wire each day, in code of course. And we would decrypt a load of messages each day in the US send the results over the wire in code. This reportedly was priority traffic. We produced better switches than the UK at the time due to Western Union which used them in their communication systems. We also had a surplus on hand and could build a Bombe in 10+ days after the first one.
Many German commanders suspected the code had been broken and complained bitterly. However the high command investigated and came to the conclusion the numbers or odds of breaking a message would take to long to be of any military value. Of course they didn't think a machine could be built to shorten the time.
Date: 2022-04-08
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Comments and reviews: 9
Lee
Actually, the best method of keeping from being decripted would have been very easy. The Japanese used it. Just about everyone used it for many years.
He pointed out that the decryption system is based on identifying WORDS. But as far back as the US Civil War, morse operators used what were refered to as Q-Codes, three letter combinations referring to a -common words book-. Here, he used the word -weather report- to try and break the code. But if -weather report- was transmitted as -WRP-, it would render this sort of decription much harder. thankfully Germans almost never used abriviated words. If that -common word- -weather report- had an assigned three letter combination, lets say -ABC-, the brute force method used here simply cannot work.
The Bomb method depends on being able to identify WORDS. Without words, the decryption method must try every possible set of words, and honestly you could leave a set of trained monkeys for all that this would do.
reply
Actually, the best method of keeping from being decripted would have been very easy. The Japanese used it. Just about everyone used it for many years.
He pointed out that the decryption system is based on identifying WORDS. But as far back as the US Civil War, morse operators used what were refered to as Q-Codes, three letter combinations referring to a -common words book-. Here, he used the word -weather report- to try and break the code. But if -weather report- was transmitted as -WRP-, it would render this sort of decription much harder. thankfully Germans almost never used abriviated words. If that -common word- -weather report- had an assigned three letter combination, lets say -ABC-, the brute force method used here simply cannot work.
The Bomb method depends on being able to identify WORDS. Without words, the decryption method must try every possible set of words, and honestly you could leave a set of trained monkeys for all that this would do.
reply
Michael
The fact is, the Brits didn't crack any coded messages sent from one Enigma-machine to an other. However, at Bletchley Park they most probably did build an electrically powered Enigma-machine with the help of Enigma-machines captured in battle and stolen drawing. It's an historical fact that no-one ever cracked Enigma generated German naval signals.
However, the Brits have made a declaration that the Americans never did. They stated catogoricaly that -they the Brits- had done the impossible, they had cracked Enigma. But now they are reluctant in tell the truth to the world, Enigma was never cracked by them. And as Charles Burrows has pointed out. What then? if the Germans sent important signals in slang or other German dialects, in the same way that the Americans used native American languages in their signals-corps.
reply
The fact is, the Brits didn't crack any coded messages sent from one Enigma-machine to an other. However, at Bletchley Park they most probably did build an electrically powered Enigma-machine with the help of Enigma-machines captured in battle and stolen drawing. It's an historical fact that no-one ever cracked Enigma generated German naval signals.
However, the Brits have made a declaration that the Americans never did. They stated catogoricaly that -they the Brits- had done the impossible, they had cracked Enigma. But now they are reluctant in tell the truth to the world, Enigma was never cracked by them. And as Charles Burrows has pointed out. What then? if the Germans sent important signals in slang or other German dialects, in the same way that the Americans used native American languages in their signals-corps.
reply
Dennis
One of the first things they did to break the enigma code was traffic analysis, also the people operating the enigma machines got sloppy, and would forget to change the rotors, or the order of the rotors this was also a clue.
But the capture of a German U-boat with the enigma machine and all of its books was a very big help in breaking enigma.
They also used a mechanical computer called -the bomb-
it got to a point where Bletchley Park was reading the german codes in real time and could have easily gave the troops their orders as fast as their own commanders could have.
but the Americans had the truly unbreakable code, the Navajo Indian code talkers, their language was oral only.
reply
One of the first things they did to break the enigma code was traffic analysis, also the people operating the enigma machines got sloppy, and would forget to change the rotors, or the order of the rotors this was also a clue.
But the capture of a German U-boat with the enigma machine and all of its books was a very big help in breaking enigma.
They also used a mechanical computer called -the bomb-
it got to a point where Bletchley Park was reading the german codes in real time and could have easily gave the troops their orders as fast as their own commanders could have.
but the Americans had the truly unbreakable code, the Navajo Indian code talkers, their language was oral only.
reply
Rick
During WW- my father was part of the team that collected in theater enigma code and passed it on to England. When he died the Canadian government denied the unit existed despite the fact we had a military photo of the unit and campaign medals, military discharge etc. These men remained in Europe and Asia from 1939 until 1945. My Dad died in 1968, They finally released his war record in 1976. A full 30 years after after the war and 20 years+ after the whole world knew about enigma.
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During WW- my father was part of the team that collected in theater enigma code and passed it on to England. When he died the Canadian government denied the unit existed despite the fact we had a military photo of the unit and campaign medals, military discharge etc. These men remained in Europe and Asia from 1939 until 1945. My Dad died in 1968, They finally released his war record in 1976. A full 30 years after after the war and 20 years+ after the whole world knew about enigma.
reply
John
Saying a bombe could break enigma in 20 minutes is so misleading it's idiotic. If your previous guess of the possible wheel settings to try was correct then yes this could happen. But what this statement ignores entirely is the massive amount of time it would take to check every single setting each day which was impossible. IT also ignores the amount of effort gone into prior to trying the suspected wheel settings to weed out the ones that were known to not be correct anyway.
reply
Saying a bombe could break enigma in 20 minutes is so misleading it's idiotic. If your previous guess of the possible wheel settings to try was correct then yes this could happen. But what this statement ignores entirely is the massive amount of time it would take to check every single setting each day which was impossible. IT also ignores the amount of effort gone into prior to trying the suspected wheel settings to weed out the ones that were known to not be correct anyway.
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Mah
The Flaw was they didn't know about the field of Cryptanalysis. Nor were they aware of electrical transistors (not integrated circuits but individual ones) these worked at 1 MHz or a Million times faster than the Drum rotating computers of the day. To brute force break the code you simply try out all the combination / permutations. When the frequency count hits high with words in the dictionary, you've cracked the code.
reply
The Flaw was they didn't know about the field of Cryptanalysis. Nor were they aware of electrical transistors (not integrated circuits but individual ones) these worked at 1 MHz or a Million times faster than the Drum rotating computers of the day. To brute force break the code you simply try out all the combination / permutations. When the frequency count hits high with words in the dictionary, you've cracked the code.
reply
Walter
Almost 30 years ago, I retired from a major Defense contractor and had a lot of time to fool around with software in those days. I wrote a software version of the ENIGMA encode/decode system which does not have the -same character exclusion- flaw of the actual ENIGMA machine. This is not a problem with software, but would require a wiring design modification to correct in the ENIGMA machine itself.
reply
Almost 30 years ago, I retired from a major Defense contractor and had a lot of time to fool around with software in those days. I wrote a software version of the ENIGMA encode/decode system which does not have the -same character exclusion- flaw of the actual ENIGMA machine. This is not a problem with software, but would require a wiring design modification to correct in the ENIGMA machine itself.
reply
david
in order for someone to think letter is not a letter is impossible jump;
its no human can make that leap; only someone who knew at outset can know it;
so only way to solve it is if solver worked for enigma;
if person worked for enigma person would've known that; and such person would have conveyed it; to solver;
otherwise its impossible puzzle;
reply
in order for someone to think letter is not a letter is impossible jump;
its no human can make that leap; only someone who knew at outset can know it;
so only way to solve it is if solver worked for enigma;
if person worked for enigma person would've known that; and such person would have conveyed it; to solver;
otherwise its impossible puzzle;
reply
Luc
The big problem with code breaking is: what to do with that breaking?
Do you show the enemy that you broke it by suddenly escaping every plan they make, quickly resulting in a totally new coding system, or do you choose what to let go, even if that results in people dying, only to prevent the major events?
Breaking a code is the easiest part.
reply
The big problem with code breaking is: what to do with that breaking?
Do you show the enemy that you broke it by suddenly escaping every plan they make, quickly resulting in a totally new coding system, or do you choose what to let go, even if that results in people dying, only to prevent the major events?
Breaking a code is the easiest part.
reply
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