![]() And then the arrangement changes and the next letter is already encoded through a different layout/alphabet. This means that when the operator types a letter it can be coded according to any of the tens of thousands of possible configurations (equivalent to different encrypted alphabets). If this is transferred to a three-disc system (with 26 positions each) you have 26 x 26 x 26 = 17,576 different arrangements. In other words, there are 60 x 60 x 12 = 43,200 combinations or arrangements of the different needles. It takes 12 hours for two similar needle arrangements to occur. And only when it completes a turn does the hour hand advance a position. When you complete a whole lap, the minute hand moves forward. With each push of the mechanism, the second hand advances one position. It is easy to visualize if you think of a clock of needles. Diagram showing the operation of the Enigma encryption machine. The second rotor advanced one position each time the first rotor completed one full turn, and the third did the same when the second was completed. The first rotor rotated one position each time a letter was pressed from the original message. In addition, each rotor automatically rotated at a certain rate. The internal wiring, different on each disk, made the signal that entered from one position exit from a different one: it was rerouted by turning it into another letter. They were thick discs, each with 26 input points (one for each letter of the alphabet) and as many output points. The Enigma had three rotors, connected in series. During World War II, the Germans used the Enigma machine to develop nearly unbreakable codes for sending messages. The fundamental part was the modifying unit, responsible for the coding process, and integrated by three types of components: plugboard, rotors and reflector. ![]() The machine invented in 1918 by the German engineer Arthur Scherbius consisted basically of three components connected by wires: a keyboard to introduce the original message, a modifying unit, and a panel with lamps where the corresponding letter of the encrypted message was illuminated. Why is an ingenious mechanism from a century ago still so fascinating?īeyond its history and the feat of its decipherment by the British cryptanalysts of Bletchley Park- with Alan Turing leading-the key must be sought in the incredible level of impregnability achieved by the Enigma. Recently, when researchers at the University of Rochester (USA) finally succeeded in developing a totally secure encryption device based on quantum rules, they presented it as the “Quantum Enigma” in honour of the rotor cipher machines used to encode Nazi messages in the Second World War, the same devices that continue breaking records at auctions today.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |