************
Topic 18 Sun Jan 21, 1990
NA5E Larry-SYSOP (Forwarded)
Sub: Crypto books and references
Have you read a book or maagzine article or seen a film that talks about
cryptography or cryptology? Share it with the rest of us.
14 message(s) total.
************
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 1 Sun Jan 21, 1990
NA5E Larry-SYSOP (Forwarded)
David Kahn's book "The Code Breakers" is a classic. It covers the history of
code breaking, emphasizing many of the breakthroughs made during World War II.
It discusses the National Security Agency, our nation's main agency for doing
such things, but the info is limited to 20 years ago. Times have changed!
James Bamford wrote "The Puzzle Palace," in the mid-80's about NSA. It
includes comments from former employees and managers adding some sense of
authenticity.
Those who'd like to hack with their computers should check out George
Sassoon's "The Radio Hacker's Code Book." It's an excellent source of
information about cipher types and their use on the radio. He gives lots of
examples and some basic algorithms for analysis. This book is hard to come by,
but it was last available from the Longwood Publishing Group, 27 S. Main
Street, Wolfesboro, NH 03894. ISBN is 0-7156-2068-1.
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 2 Sun Jan 21, 1990
A.COURTNEY [Lexington KY] (Forwarded)
"The Radio Hacker's Code Book" used to be available through Gilfer
Associates. I don't know if it still is, as they failed to send me a catalog
this year.
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 3 Sun Jan 21, 1990
FRANK.DEIS (Forwarded)
I seem to recall several books and even a play about Alan Turing's work during
WWII. Turing was a particularly brilliant mind with an unfortunately twisted
and tortured psyche. Perhaps he was the perfect paranoid type to work in
codes and ciphers. No titles come to mind at the moment.
Frank
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 4 Fri Jan 26, 1990
MURREY [KB9BVN] (Forwarded)
Where can I get a copy of The Puzzle Palace and a book called The
Codebreakers? I understand they are very good crypto books and I have all of a
sudden developed an interest in coding.
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 5 Fri Jan 26, 1990
NA5E Larry-SYSOP (Forwarded)
I think both books are still in print in paperback form. Take a look under
history or current affairs sections in your local Waldenbooks or similar. And
the library might be able to help you, too. Those of you who, like me, live
in the boonies should ask the librarian about inter-library loans, too.
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 6 Tue Feb 06, 1990
FRANK.DEIS (Forwarded)
Perhaps this doesn't belong here since it has nothing to do with Radio and
only a little to do with Cryptography, but the book I am reading now is
The Cuckoo's Egg -- by Clifford Stoll
What an INTERESTING BOOK! Do yourself a favor and read it!!!
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 7 Tue Feb 06, 1990
FRANK.DEIS (Forwarded)
AHA ! I finished The Cuckoo's Egg and realized why it should be here. Part
of it deals with password decryption and NSA standards, and the bibliography
recommends:
The Puzzle Palace by James Bamford
The Codebreakers by David Kahn
Deep Black by William E. Burrows (spy satellites)
Cryptography and Data Security by Dorothy Denning
Unix System Security by Wood and Kochan
Defending Secrets, Sharing Data, U.S. Congress Office of Technology
Assessment, OTA-CIT-310.
Frank
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 8 Tue Feb 06, 1990
M.CORDELLI [mike] (Forwarded)
Did you see the guy who wrote Cuckoo's Egg when he was on whatever news show
Connie Chung has??? This is one strange guy, left over from Woodstock or
something. It's no wonder hat nobody believed him. BTW, I too loved the
book.
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 9 Sun Feb 25, 1990
NA5E Larry-SYSOP (Forwarded)
>From: HAVANAMOON@cup.portal.com (Havana - Moon)
>Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
>Subject: Re: A question of numbers (2nd try)
>Message-ID: <27058@cup.portal.com>
>Date: 18 Feb 90 13:19:56 GMT
>References: <1007.25dc2025@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu>
>Distribution: usa,world
>Organization: The Portal System (TM)
>Lines: 101
This material has been posted previously - but is a good
basic introduction to "The Numbers" - so . . .
In response to recent questions about the "Numbers"
Stations, their origin and purpose, the following summary
captures the high points.
"Spy Numbers Transmissions" are a shortwave oddity which have
been around for the last 25 years. They are commonly heard
in English, German, Spanish and the Slavic languages and take
the form of four and five digit groups of numbers which are
preceded by a three digit "identifier" and a "group count"
which corresponds to the number of number groups transmitted
in the crypt. They are generally broadcast by a mechanical-
sounding YL, although Morse code (CW) "cut number" transmissions
are also frequently reported, as are phonetic alphabet trans-
missions. Several distinctly different formats have been
noted.
The "who" and "why" aspects of these transmissions are,
for the most part, unknown. Their mysterious nature has
resulted in their common characterization as 'spy' trans-
missions. Information on the "where" aspects below.
The spy theory has been enhanced over the years by the FCC's
inconsistent position in response to numerous inquiries by
the Shortwave Listening community.
If you've never heard a numbers transmission, tune your
radio to 11468 kHz any Saturday at 4pm EST (2100 UTC).
You'll almost certainly hear a 'classic' numbers transmission
which will run from 15-30 minutes. The signal from this
Saturday transmission is very powerful and can be heard
across the United States.
In regards the "where" - a number of sites have been identified
in recent years, notably in Warrenton and Remington, VA and
Miami, FL. In addition, with the aid of sophisticated RDF
(radio direction finding) equipment and the invaluable assist-
ance of highly authoritative and professional resources, several
new transmission sites have been positively identified over the
past several months, including sites in Nicaragua, Honduras, El
Salvador, Cuba and Cozumel.
One particularly dangerous station has been interfering with
air to ground traffic on 6577 kHz, a frequency allocated to inter-
national aeronautical communications in the busy Caribbean sector.
On at least one monitored transmission, the air traffic controller
at ARINC moved the pilot to an alternate frequency as the numbers
transmission was totally blocking the frequency from effective use.
This regular transmission can be heard on Mondays at 0200 UTC
(Sunday night local US time) across most of the US.
A recently identified Cuban site (Guineo) is believed to ba a major
transmitter site used by DGI (Cuban Intelligence).
There has been some suggestion that the numbers are a form of
'one-time-pad' - a crude but unbreakable form of encryption
(unless you've got the key, that is) - if that's the case,
it's very curious to note that the same five-digit groups are
often seen to repeat over and over again in the very same
crypt - and that the same transmissions are seen to
repeat from week to week, and from month to month -
so often, in fact, that tape breaks are sometimes noted. When
spliced back together, the sloppy handling sometimes results in
truncated 5-digit groups - the end result being amixture of 4
and 5 digit groups in the very same transmission!
These facts would tend to point one away from the one-time-pad
concept and support a couple of other theories - suggesting that
the numbers are NOT a cipher, but rather a code unto themselves,
and that much of this traffic is 'dummy' in nature - broadcast
simply to keep a frequency open over a long period of time.
In addition, most five-digit Spanish numbers transmissions are
very badly over-modulated, resulting in numerous spurs up and
down frequency. When broadcast under such conditions, the
numbers (6) seis and (7) siete are almost indistinguishable,
making it impossible to copy a crypt without numerous errors.
It is worth noting that the four-digit Spanish and English
transmissions do not reflect this same technical ineptitude.
There are a number of reference materials available which provide
detailed information about cryptography and cryptanalysis, in
general, and numbers crypts, specifically. I'd be happy to provide
anyone interested with a list of books.
Only two publications I know of are currently available which
provide regular coverage of numbers, clandestine, pirate and
other interesting transmissions. The ACE Bulletin (monthly news-
letter of the Association of Clandestine Enthusiasts - PO Box
11201, Department KK, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207 $16/yr) and the Umbra
et Lux Newsletter (a newsletter devoted to SIGINT, covert radio
and related topics - 10606-8 Camino Ruiz, Department KK, Suite
174, San Diego, CA 92126 $18/yr).
Havana Moon
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 10 Wed Mar 07, 1990
NA5E Larry-SYSOP (Forwarded)
For mathematically sophisticated readers, I can recommend "An Introduction to
Cryptology," by Henk C.A. van Tilborg. (1988 ISBN 0-89838-271-8 GR.) It
covers the following subjects:
Classical systems
Shift register sequences
Shannon theory
Huffman codes
Data Encryption Standard
Public Key Cryptography
Discrete Logarithm Problem
RSA
McEliece System
Knapsack problem
Threshold schemes
At $45.95 it isn't for everyone, but you order it from Kluwer Academic
Publishers, 101 Philip Drice, Norwell MA 02061. (Tel 617- 871-6600)
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 11 Wed Jul 04, 1990
HAVANA.MOON at 08:42 EDT
___________________________________________________________________________
Codes, ciphers, one-time-pads, numbers transmissions, spy communi-
cations - they all conjure up intrigue and shadows. There's lots
of information out there on this topic, and while much of it is
behind tightly closed doors, passwords and layers of armed
guards, much can be learned from books that aren't devoted entirely
to the technicalities of the subject.
The following bibliography will provide anyone with an interest in this
topic with an unusual mix of material. Some of the reference sources
are technical and deal exclusively with cryptographic/cryptanalytic
technique, while others provide insight into real-world situations/
applications of these techniques, and/or a historical perspective.
While some of the titles referenced may seem to be off the topic,
the careful reader will gain valuable insight from even those books
which contain very little pure cryptographic material (marked with
asterisks).
I have attempted to select books that can be read easily by the
beginner, although many of them may be extremely difficult to locate.
Inter-library loan might be of valuable assistance in this regard.
A word about my background - I spent several years in the military
and US Intelligence community with specialties in telecommunications,
traffic analysis, cryptography, cryptanalysis and counterintelligence.
I've written a couple of books and hundreds of magazine articles using
the pseudonym 'Havana Moon', which have dealt primarily with covert
radio and 'spy' numbers transmissions. I prefer to maintain my
anonymity for obvious reasons, and write on other subjects using
another name.
Havana Moon
_____________________________________________________________________
And ye shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free
John, VIII: 32
Inscription on the main lobby wall of the CIA
_____________________________________________________________________
SELECTED READING LIST
A HISTORY OF CODES, William Friedman (Aegean Park Press)
ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA, Andrew Hodges (Burnett Books)
AN INTRODUCTION TO CRYPTOLOGY, van Tilborg
*A WORLD OF SECRETS. THE USES AND LIMITS OF INTELLIGENCE, by Walter
Laqueur (Basic Books)
*AGENCY OF FEAR, Edward Jay Epstein (McGraw-Hill)
AND I WAS THERE: PEARL HARBOR AND MIDWAY - BREAKING THE SECRETS, by
Rear Admiral Edwin T. Layton, USN (Ret.) (William Morrow)
*ANTI-MATTER, by C. M. Stanbury (Dust Books)
[This book borders on the lunatic fringe, but the careful reader
will gain an interesting perspective].
BEYOND CLOAK AND DAGGER: INSIDE THE CIA, by Miles Copeland (Pinnacle
Books)
BROKEN SEAL, by Ladislas Farago (Random House)
BURN AFTER READING, by Ladislas Farago (Pinnacle Books)
*CIA: THE INSIDE STORY, by Andrew Tully (Fawcett)
CLOAK AND CIPHER, by Dan Moore & Martha Waller (Bobbs-Merrill)
CODES AND CRYPTOGRAPHY, Dominic Welsh (Oxford Science Publishers)
CODES, CIPHERS AND COMPUTERS, by Bruce Bosworth (Hayden Books)
COMPUTER SIMULATION OF CLASSICAL SUBSTITUTION SYSTEMS, by Rudolph
Lauer (Aegean Park Press)
CRYPTANALYSIS, by Helen Fouche Gaines (Dover Paperbacks)
CRYPTANALYSIS FOR MICRO COMPUTERS, by Caxton Foster (Hayden Books)
CRYPTOGRAPHY, by Laurence Smith (Dover Paperbacks)
CRYPTOGRAPHY AND DATA SECURITY, by Dorothy Denning (Addison-Wesley)
[This is a highly technical book, included here with a word of
caution to the novice].
CRYPTOGRAPHY: A PRIMER, by Alan G. Konheim (John Wiley)
CRYPTOLOGY: YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW, C. Deavours, et. al (Reprints
from Cryptologia, Volume I)
CRYPTOLOGY: MACHINES, HISTORY & METHODS, C. Deavours, et. al (Reprints
from Cryptologia, Volume II)
DEADLY MAGIC, by Edward Van Der Rhoer (Scribners)
DEFENDING SECRETS, SHARING DATA, US Office of Technology Assessment
DEEP BLACK, William Burrows
DOUBLE-EDGED SECRETS, by W.J. Holmes (Naval Institute Press)
ELEMENTARY CRYPTANALYSIS, Math Association of America
ELEMENTS OF CRYPTANALYSIS, by William F. Friedman (Aegean Park Press)
EMBASSY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS HANDBOOK, by Michael Schaay (Universal
Electronics)
ENIGMA, W. Kozaczuk, University Publications of America
*GERMAN MILITARY INTELLIGENCE, by Paul Leverkuehn (Weidenfeld & Nicol-
son)
GREAT MYTHS OF WORLD WAR II, by Karl Roebling (Paragon Press/Dyna
Press)
GUIDE TO EMBASSY AND ESPIONAGE COMMUNICATIONS, by Tom Kneitel (CRB
Research)
*HITLER'S SPIES, by David Kahbn, Ph.D. (Macmillan)
*HOW TO TUNE THE SECRET SHORTWAVE SPECTRUM, by Harry Helms (TAB Books)
INSIDE THE AQUARIUM, by Viktor Suvorov (Macmillan)
KAHN ON CODES, David Kahn, Ph.D., (Macmillan)
LANGUAGE IDENTIFICATION TABLE, by N. Ingle (Technical Translation
International)
MACHINE CRYPTOGRAPHY AND MODERN CRYPTANALYSIS, by C.A. Deavours
and Louis Kruh (Artech House)
MILITARY CRYPTANALYTICS, Callimahos & Friedman (Aegean Park Press)
NORMAL AND REVERSE ENGLISH WORD LIST, by US Department of Commerce,
National Technical Information Service)
PRINCIPLES OF MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS, by Don J. Torrieri (Artech
House Books)
*SPYCATCHER, by Peter Wright (Dell Paperbacks)
STATISTICAL METHODS IN CRYPTANALYSIS, by Solomon Kullback, Ph.D.
(Aegean Park Press)
*THE ANATOMY OF TWO TRAITORS, by Wayne Barker and Rodney Coffman
(Aegean Park Press)
THE AMERICAN BLACK CHAMBER, Herbert O. Yardley, Bobbs-Merrill, 1931
*THE BIG SECRET, by William Poundstone (William Morrow)
*THE CIA AND THE US INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM, by Scott Breckinridge
(Westview Press)
THE CODE BOOK, by Michael Marotta (Loompanics Unlimited)
THE CODEBREAKERS, by David Kahn, Ph.D. (Macmilllan)
*THE CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE, by Allen Dulles (Harper & Rowe)
*THE CUBAN STORY, by Herbert Matthews (Braziller)
*THE CUCKOO'S EGG, Clifford Stoll (Doubleday)
*THE DOUBLE-CROSS SYSTEM, by J.C. Masterman (Yale University Press)
*THE GAME OF THE FOXES, by Ladislas Farago (McKay)
THE HUT SIX STORY, Gordon Welchman (McGraw-Hill)
THE NIGHT WATCH, by David Atlee Phillips (Atheneum)
THE PUZZLE PALACE, by James Bamford (2nd edition, Penguin Paperbacks)
THE RADIO HACKER'S CODE BOOK, George Sassoon (Longwood Publishing Group)
*THE SECRET WAR REPORT OF THE OSS, by Anthony Cave Brown (Berkley
Medallion Press)
*THE TOP SECRET REGISTRY OF US GOVERNMENT RADIO FREQUENCIES, by Tom
Kneitel (CRB Research)
*THE ULTRA AMERICAN: THE US ROLE IN BREAKING NAZI CODES" by Thomas
Parrish (Stein & Day)
*THE ULTRA SECRET, by F.W. Winterbotham (Dell Paperbacks)
*THE ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM, by Barbara Tuchman (Viking)
WAR SECRETS IN THE ETHER, by William Flicke (Aegean Park Press)
______________________________________________________________________
The following organizations frequently publish material on cryptog-
raphy/cryptanalysis, some of it quite expensive. I believe they all
have catalogs available, so I've provided their addresses. A word
of caution, many of the titles in the Loompanics Catalog are offbeat
enough to cause one to rethink the right to freedom of expression
and freedom of the press.
. Loompanics Unlimited . Aegean Park Press
PO Box 1197 PO Box 2387
Port Townsend, WA 98368 Laguna Hills, CA 92654
. American Cryptogram Association
18789 W. Hickory Street
Mundelein, IL 60060
For an excellent real world perspective on the use of cryptographic
techniques, don't forget your shortwave radio.
______________________________________________________________________
Footnote
The following publications provide fairly regular coverage of
similar topics. Their inclusion in a comprehensive listing of
reference material is important, but I wish to indicate clearly
that I have an interest - and/or publish regularly - in many of
these books/magazines/newsletters, and would hope that their
inclusion here not be misconstrued as an attempt at solicitation.
. The Umbra et Lux Newsletter, published by DX/SWL Press, edited by
Harry Helms - 10606-8 Camino Ruiz, Suite 174, San Diego, CA 92126
$18/year - $2.00/sample copy.
. The Numbers Factsheet, published quarterly by MoonBeam Press,
compiled and edited by Havana Moon. PO Box 149, Briarcliff, NY 10510
$16/year domestic, $25/year international. $5.00/sample copy
. Popular Communications Magazine, 76 North Broadway, Hicksville, NY
11801
. The A*C*E Digest, PO Box 11201, Shawnee Mission, KS 66207
$16/year - $2.00/sample copy.
. UNO, DOS, CUATRO: A GUIDE TO THE SPY NUMBERS STATIONS, by Havana Moon,
(Tiare Publications)
. LOS NUMEROS: THE NUMBERS STATIONS GUIDE, by Havana Moon, (Tiare
Publications)
. LOS NUMEROS ON-LINE, a full-featured electronic shortwave magazine,
with a dedicated "Crypto Vault"
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| This File Was Downloaded From Havana Moon's "Los Numeros" On-Line |
| A Full Featured Electronic Shortwave Magazine |
| Based on Portal* - The Affordable On-Line System |
| For Information, Call 408-973-9111 (9-5 Pacific) |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
------------
Category 3, Topic 18
Message 12 Wed Jul 04, 1990
HAVANA.MOON at 08:46 EDT
[Note: This file in its entirety is available for download (File #1385)
ENIGMA.LBR
[==========] The ENIGMA cipher machine was used
by the German armed forces during WWII. The history of its interception, and
the breaking of the code have become legend, and a synopsis of that history
will be found in the accompanying .DOC file. In July 1981, an article
authored by Marian Rejewski appeared in "Annals of the History of
Computing", a quarterly publication of AFIPS (American Federation of
Information Publishing Societies, Inc.). Published with that article was a
simulation program in BASIC language which illust- rated the operation of the
ENIGMA. The program was authored by C.Deavours of the Math Dept., Kean
College of NJ. Of course, that issue (vol 3, # 3) was copyrighted by AFIPS.
The original program was modified, and was later translated to IBM/PC BASIC,
by J.E.Eller, Va.Beach, VA. ENIGMA.EXE is the result of that history. All
rights are reserved. Permission to use the original source material was
granted by AFIPS, on condition that credit be given to the source, and that
copying and distribution would not be used for direct commercial advantage.
Therefore, this library of files, includ- ing ENIGMA.EXE, ENIGMA.DOC, and
READ_ME.1st, may be distributed ONLY AS-IS without alteration or deletion, and
may not be used in any commercial manner.
ENIGMA
[|========|]
WWII German Cryptograph
Enigma, Ultra, cyclometer, bombas, bombes, Bletchley, Banbury,
Turing, .., .., . The list of names associated with the solution of
the code is endless. There is certainly no intent to slight here
the effort of any nation(s) or individual(s) by omitting them from
this list. Indeed, there is equally no intention of extending this
paper into the area, where angels fear to tread, of the several
controversies which have arisen, as they always do around legends.
Rather, the intent of this paper, and indeed this library of files,
will be to present, on a very small scale, the Enigma as a device,
and the technical factors involved in interceptions.
A few of those points WILL be simply mentioned now, to put the
entire issue in perspective, by associating the legends.
1) The question of which nation took what part, at which stage,
and under what constraints, in the monumental effort.
2) The relative impact of the project on the conduct or outcome
of World War II, from "winning the war" to "incidental".
3) The often repeated, but unsubstantiated, questions surround-
ing the bombing of Coventry in 1940.
Actually, one controversy may be of interest in computer terms.
It has been reported that Great Britain, which in 1943 developed
the "world's first electronic computer" (referring, of course, to
COLOSSUS, though even that title is disputable), did so as an
outgrowth of the earlier (electromechanical) bombas and bombes, and
applied it to the solution of Enigma traffic. This report has been
questioned, on the grounds that the COLOSSI were used to attack the
German Geheimschreibers (secret writers), more complex than the
Enigma.
The origin during the 1920's, of the Engima as we know it was as
a commercial device, sold to German industrial and business users,
and indeed in the 1930's to other nationalities as well. Poland
first became aware of the device about 1927, through a weekend
incident in Polish Customs involving a shipment made in error to a
German firm in Poland. Later, Poland openly purchased one from the
German manufacturer. The effort more often attributed to the Poles
was the capturing of a military version by the underground early
in the war. In any event, several European nations, including
Great Britain, Poland, and France were involved during the 1930's
in deciphering messages using the Engima, with little cooperation,
yet with considerable success. Indeed, an early, non-plugboard
version was used in the Spanish Civil War. Of course, the military
version differed in some respects, notably that the reflecting drum
was immovable in it, but the point here is that the Enigma concept
had been studied by the Allies long before 1939, the war's opening.
Physically, the external case of the original device resembled a
portable typewriter, though the ratio of the length of its sides
differed, being long and narrow. It contained a 26-letter keyboard
with (flashlight-like) lamps in place of the typebars, a plug-type
switchboard (which actually exchanged letter pairs), a battery for
power, and, finally, its most important part, a shaft holding three
drums (rotors), together with a fourth "reflecting" drum. On each
drum was a ring, on which were engraved the 26 letters of the
alphabet, and which could be rotated with respect to the rest of
the drum. The center of each drum was an insulating disk, with 26
stationary contacts on one side connected irregularly to 26 spring
contacts on the other side. The drums had toothed gears, to allow
relative turning of one by the next one.
When a key was pressed, the rightmost drum rotated 1/26th of
its circumference, and current flowed through the key, through the
three drums to the reflecting drum, then back again through the
three drums, through the plugboard, to light the proper lamp for
the enciphered letter. As encipherment continued, each successive
drum in turn rotated according to a plan much like an odometer.
Actually, in certain positions, the second drum might rotate two
positions for one complete rotation of the previous one, unlike an
odometer.
As this description indicates, a number of factors influenced
encipherment :
1) the connections of the drums, a factor of manufacture,
2) the daily key, including the setting of the rings, the order
of the drums on the shaft, the plugboard settings, and others,
3) the message key, the name applied to the initial setting of
the drums, with which the current message began.
It should be noted that, in early usage, the daily key was changed
on a somewhat extended schedule (perhaps once each month for some).
As the war progressed, they were changed with increasing frequency,
until finally, it became apparent that the Germans suspected their
traffic was being handled with some degree of success. As the war
ended, a new cipher machine was being introduced on the line.
Clearly, the intent of such a device relies less on the device
itself than on the management of its several factors. The Germans
decided that each military message originator would randomly set
his own message key, transmitting it in three enciphered characters
at the beginning of each message. Because of the unreliability of
military communications at that stage, they were transmitted twice
in succession. Thus, the first six characters of each message were
the message key, i.e. the initial settings of the drums.
To illustrate the complexity of the problem, the number of
possible unique interconnection sets of enciphering drums is 26!,
or 403,291,461,126,605,635,584,000,000 , and the number of unique
reflecting drum connections is 7,905,853,580,025. However, from a
practical point of view, all military machines would have the same
set of connections, to insure universal military communications.
This, then, is the importance of capturing a military unit, without
the enemy's certain knowledge. Clearly, the replacement of ALL
military units (estimated at 100,000 to 200,000) during the war,
would be a monumental logistic task, to be avoided unless totally
necessary.
Yet, even the keys presented no small problem. Each enciphering
drum can be set 26 different ways. Even with only three drums,
this means 17,576 possibilities. And, since their order on the
shaft can be changed, the combination of the two yields 105,456
possibilities. Add to this the plugboard variations (the original
6 pairs of letters was later increased to 10 pairs, leaving only 6
self-steckers of the 26 letters), and the problem increases. Then,
note that, as early as 1939, some parts of the German military used
a selection of eight drums from which to draw their three, and the
U-boats later used a 4-drum device. Each of these geometrically
increased complexity.
The task at hand was statistically a gigantic one, but one which
could be solved with sufficient resources, both mechanical and
human. These were applied during the war in a number of locations,
mostly in England ... from Alan Turing's organisation, with its
statisticians and other specialists to "the girls" of Banbury, as
they were known, the scores of young women who daily prepared the
"Banbury sheets". These were laboriously punched forms of daily
message traffic, from which repeat patterns were derived, using
"weights of evidence". And, as history knows, it WAS solved, to
the great benefit of the Allied war effort.
I sincerely hope that this writing, though perhaps too simple for
those with an interest in cryptoanalysis, has provided you with
some knowledge of the nature of the Engima, and the project which
the British called Ultra.
The program included in this library illustrates the techniques
described here. There are a number of papers and books on the
subject for those who wish to pursue it, including the one from
which part of this material was drawn. That article, which itself
contains some bibliography, appeared in the Annals of the History
of Computing, Vol 3, # 3, copyright July 1981, AFIPS (American
Federation of Information Processing Societies) . Permission to
excerpt was granted on condition that it not be used for direct
commercial advantage, and notice of copyright be included, as it is
here. Therefore, the several files of this library must not be
separated, and this notice must be left intact.
J. E. Eller 536 Caren Dr Va.Beach,VA 23452 (804)340-3848
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| This File Was Downloaded From Havana Moon's "Los Numeros" On-Line |
| A Full Featured Electronic Shortwave Magazine |
| Based on Portal* - The Affordable On-Line System |
| For Information, Call 408-973-9111 (9-5 Pacific) |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
File #1385 in the Radio & Electronics IBM Software Library contains the full
set of three files referenced here. This text file has been extracted simply
to provide a detailed pointer to the full Enigma file. /HM
------------
Category 3, Topic 18
Message 13 Sun Aug 26, 1990
FRANK.DEIS at 23:18 EDT
Hello All,
On page 110 of the Fall issue of Whole Earth Review, there is an article
called "Clandestine Access" by Robert Horvitz. Numerous publications are
reviewed including "The Ace", "Umbra et Lux", "The Numbers Factsheet" (all of
which have published articles by Havana Moon) as well as "Pirate Pages",
"Clandestine Radio Broadcasting", etc. etc.!! Interesting reading!
If you can't find Whole Earth Review, write to Box 38, Sausalito CA 94966.
Frank
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Category 3, Topic 18
Message 14 Sat Sep 29, 1990
A.COURTNEY [Allan] at 09:46 EDT
The Winter 1987 issue of the Whole Earth Review was known as the "Signal"
issue and had a couple of articles of interest. Bob Horvitz wrote "An
Intelligent Guide to Intelligence" which had a definitie radio bent, with
sidebars on Foreign News Monitors and News via Radioteletype.
There was also an article called "H-Bomb Truck Watch: Citizen Intelligence
Activism" about efforts to track DOE truck convoys between US Nuclear
facilities. These convoys CAN be monitored on the HF bands.
This issue of WER was rereleased as a full-scale book in late 1988 or early
1989 and should still be available at your local bookstore.
Allan
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