Enigma Machines on Display
The inspiration for RSA® Conference Europe 2008 is Alan Turing (1912-1954). The British cryptographer, mathematician, logician, philosopher and biologist is considered to be the father of modern computer science.
Using mathematical logic, Turing helped solve Enigma codes at superhuman speeds during World War II, at Bletchley Park, Britain’s secret code-breaking department. To celebrate his life and works, we welcomed Victoria Worpole from Bletchley Park’s Education Department and John Alexander, an Enigma machine expert, to RSA Conference Europe where they showcased a number of cipher and enigma machines.
Machines on display:
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Hagelin C36 (1936):
Wide-spread use in France.
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Hagelin C38 (1938):
Used across Europe and Scandinavia but a rarely seen machine.
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US M209 / M-209 (C.1940+):
100,000 + of these machines were made which were used by US forces from around 1941 right up until the Vietnam War.
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Hagelin BC38 (C.1940):
Complete with an electric motor and a full keyboard.
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Enigma 4229 (C.1938):
A well-used example of the famous 3-rotor German Cipher machine.
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NEMA (1947):
NEMA is derived from 'NEue MAschine or New Machine and was in service from 1947 until 1963. The example on display will be from the Swiss 'War Reserve' stocks.
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Fialka (Violet) 1953 onwards:
10 rotors, printing mechanism, punched tape operation built-in. Fialka was an important part of Soviet and Eastern Block military communications and remained in use as late as 1999.
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CX52(RT):
Rather than wheels, rotors and drums, this type of system relies upon key tapes for their security. Characters from the plaintext message are mixed with random characters from the keytape. If all is done properly, the resulting message can be intercepted by an enemy but remain unbreakable.
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