The Encrypted Text of Enigma Machines

During World War II, the Germans created a cipher device to protect militarycommunications. It was used extensively by Nazi Germany throughout every branch of the military to send top-secret messages because this machine was considered to be so secure that nobody would be able to crack it and intercept the messages. This machine was called the Enigma machine.

The Enigma Machine

The Enigma machine is one of the most famous encryption devices in history. It was used by the Germans during World War II to transmit coded messages about their plans between units. This machine offered billions of ways to encode a message, which made it difficult to break the code during the war. For a long period of time, the code was considered unbreakable, until Alan Turing and some of his fellow researchers exploited its weaknesses and created a machine called a Bombe machine that cracked the hardest parts of the Enigma code. Cracking this code meant that the Allied forces were able to stop the Germans in their tracks.

Encryption

Enigma machines use a form of substitution encryption, which is a straightforward way of encoding messages. Encryption is way to code messages using different letters or numbers in order to hide information sopeoplecan’t see it unless they know how to decrypt it. The Caesar shift cipher is a common and easy to break form of encryption in which each letter of the alphabet is changed into another letter that’s several letters away in the alphabet. The Enigma machine took this form of encryption to another level by changing the entire encoding scheme every time another letter is added to the message.

How an Enigma Machine Works

An Enigma machine is made up of a keyboard, a set of lights, internal electronic circuitry, rotors, and a plugboard. When a letter is typed, a light lights up that corresponds to the letter it will become in the coded message. Then, the rotors turn, changing the cipher by moving which letter is connected to each light. The rotors could also be moved around within the machine, which would also change the encryption. The settings for the Enigma machines were changed every morning, but Enigma operators received codebooks that specified the settings for the machines that day.

Enigma Encryption

The rotors on an Enigma machine were marked with the letters of the alphabet, so they could be aligned based on a numerical code. These machines used three rotors at a time, but the Germans had five different rotors to choose from that they could swap in and out of the machine or place in different positions. This gave them thousands of possible configurations.

Cracking the Enigma Code

The Enigma code had one major flaw: A letter could never be encoded as itself, which was a major clue for code-breakers working to piece together information that could decrypt the messages. Another thing that made decryption a bit easier was that the Germans tended to use similar phrases in their messages: They would usually start a message with a weather report and end it with “Heil Hitler.” Code-breakers could use the process of elimination to help crack the code. For the rest, Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman designed the Bombe machine, which helped to determine the settings of rotors and plugboards. Eventually, German messages could be decrypted within hours of their interception.

Additional Information on Enigma Machines, Cipher Machines, and Cryptology

Cryptography: This document covers everything you need to know about cryptography, from its history to how it’s used.
Women Who Helped Crack the Enigma Code in World War II: During World War II, thousands of women served as cryptologists or took positions that helped others in their field to crack the code.
German Cipher Machines of World War II: This document from the Center for Cryptologic History at the National Security Agency covers German cipher machines and how they were used during World War II.
Espionage Information: Cipher Machine: Cipher machines became popular during World War II as a way for countries to send encrypted information to their allies in a way that would be hard to decode for outsiders.
Cryptology: Cryptography is the study of cryptology and covers itsdefinition, designing ciphers, cryptanalysis methods, key exchange, digital signatures, and more.
How Alan Turing Cracked the Enigma Code: Alan Turing’s work during World War II was crucial; he’s known in history books as the man who was able to finally crack the German Enigma code.
Computer History: The Enigma Machine: The Computer History Museum has a gallery of images of the Enigma machine to give visitors an overview of how they worked.
Enigma Machine Collection: At the beginning of World War II, it was almost impossible to crack the German code created through the Enigma machine, but by the end of the war, every message was decrypted within a day or two.
Cipher Machines: The Enigma machine wasn’t the only cipher machine used in history to pass along secret messages.
The Difference Between Cryptography and Cryptology: Cryptography and cryptology only have a difference of a few letters, but they are two different parts of the study of codes and code-breaking.
Teaching History: The Enigma Cipher Machine: Objects are a great way to teach history, and the Enigma machine is no different. The machine has a lot of history behind why it was created and how it was used.
Enigma FAQs: Still curious about the Enigma machine? This historian has compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answered them.
Enigma Unveiling: The Computer Museum of America has a quick overview of the Enigma machine and has even been working to create events for patrons to learn more about it.
Cipher Machines: Cipher machines have a long and detailed history that extends back for many decades.

The Encrypted Text of Enigma Machines | Emissary.ai (2024)