World War II cryptography
Cryptography was used extensively during World War II, with a plethora of code and cipher systems fielded by the nations involved. In addition, the theoretical and practical aspects of cryptanalysis, or codebreaking, were much advanced.
Probably the most important codebreaking event of the war was the successful decryption by the Allies of the German "Enigma" Cipher. The first complete break into Enigma was accomplished by Poland around 1932; the techniques and insights used were passed to the French and British Allies just before the outbreak of the war in 1939. They were substantially improved by British efforts at the Bletchley Park research station during the war. Decryption of the Enigma Cipher allowed the Allies to read important parts of German radio traffic on important networks and was an invaluable source of military intelligence throughout the war. Intelligence from this source (and other high level sources, including the Fish ciphers) was eventually called Ultra.[1][2][3]
A similar break into the most secure Japanese diplomatic cipher, designated Purple by the US Army Signals Intelligence Service, started before the US entered the war. Product from this source was called Magic.
Australia[]
- Central Bureau
- FRUMEL: Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne
- Secret Intelligence Australia
Finland[]
- Finnish Defence Intelligence Agency
France[]
- PC Bruno
- Hans-Thilo Schmidt
Germany[]
- Enigma machine
- Fish (cryptography) British codename for German teleprinter ciphers
- Lorenz cipher a Fish cipher codenamed Tunny by the British
- Siemens and Halske T52 Geheimfernschreiber, a Fish cipher codenamed Sturgeon by the British
- Short Weather Cipher
- B-Dienst
- Reservehandverfahren
- OKW/CHI
- Gisbert Hasenjaeger
Italy[]
- Hagelin machine
- Enigma machine
Japan[]
- Japanese army and diplomatic codes
- Japanese naval codes
- PURPLE
- JN-25
Poland[]
- Cryptanalysis of the Enigma
- Biuro Szyfrów (Cipher Bureau)
- Marian Rejewski
- Jerzy Różycki
- Henryk Zygalski
- bomba
- Lacida Machine
Sweden[]
- Arne Beurling
United Kingdom[]
- Bletchley Park
- Cryptanalysis of the Enigma
- Far East Combined Bureau (FECB)
- Naval Intelligence Division (NID)
- Wireless Experimental Centre (WEC)
- Bombe
- Colossus computer
- Typex
- SYKO
- Ultra
- Alan Turing
- W. T. Tutte
- John Tiltman
- Max Newman
- Tommy Flowers
- I. J. Good
- John Herivel
- Leo Marks
- Poem code
United States[]
- Magic (cryptography)
- Signals Intelligence Service US Army, see also Arlington Hall
- OP-20-G US Navy Signals Intelligence group
- Elizebeth Smith Friedman
- William Friedman
- Frank Rowlett
- Abraham Sinkov
- Genevieve Grotjan Feinstein
- Leo Rosen
- Joseph Rochefort, leader of the effort to crack Japanese Naval codes
- Joseph Mauborgne
- Agnes Meyer Driscoll
- SIGABA cipher machine
- SIGSALY voice encryption
- SIGTOT one-time tape system
- M-209 cipher machine
- Station HYPO cryptanalysis group
- Station CAST cryptanalysis group
- Station NEGAT
See also[]
- Cryptography
- History of cryptography
- World War I cryptography
- Ultra (cryptography)
- Magic (cryptography)
- Cryptanalysis of the Enigma
- Bombe
- Enigma (machine)
- SIGABA
- TypeX
- Lorenz cipher
- Geheimfernschreiber
- Codetalkers
- PURPLE
- SIGSALY
- JN-25
- Bletchley Park
- Biuro Szyfrów
- PC Bruno
- SIS US Army, later moved to Arlington Hall
- OP-20-G US Navy
- Marian Rejewski
- Jerzy Różycki
- Henryk Zygalski
- Alan Turing
- W. T. Tutte
- John Tiltman
- Max Newman
- Tommy Flowers
- I. J. Good
- William Friedman
- Frank Rowlett
- Abraham Sinkov
- Joseph Rochefort
- Agnes Meyer Driscoll
- Hans-Thilo Schmidt
References[]
- ^ Budiansky, Stephen (2000). Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780684859323.
- ^ Hinsley, F. H.; Stripp, Alan (2001). Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192801326.
- ^ Haufler, Hervie (2014). Codebreakers' Victory: How the Allied Cryptographers Won World War II. Open Road Media. ISBN 9781497622562.
- History of cryptography
- Signals intelligence of World War II