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| Nazi Secret Code Broken by Amateur The M4 Enigma Machine Speaks... |
Walaika K. Haskins, newsfactor.com
Thu Mar 2, 7:15 PM ET
Nazi code that eluded the best cryptographers the
Allied forces had to offer during World War II has
been solved by an amateur codebreaker with the
assistance of a network of computers.
The three uncracked ciphers -- a cipher is a method
of transforming text in order to conceal its meaning --
were encrypted in 1942 with a new version of the
infamous German Enigma machine, which was used
to direct attacks against Allied shipping in the Atlantic.
The M4 Project, the brainchild of Stefan Krah, a
violinist and amateur cryptographer of German birth,
is credited with cracking one of the three remaining
ciphers. The project was named in honor of the M4
Enigma machine that originally encoded the
messages.
To solve the puzzling mystery, details of which had
been published in a cryptography journal in 1995,
Krah wrote a codebreaking program and then went
online in January to post information about his
project and ask for assistance.
In an interview with the BBC, Krah, a resident of
Utrecht, The Netherlands, said it was "basic human
curiosity" that prompted him to attempt to break the
code. "Clearly, the project is from the
'because-we-can' department," Krah wrote on a
bulletin board online.
Thu Mar 2, 7:15 PM ET
Nazi code that eluded the best cryptographers the
Allied forces had to offer during World War II has
been solved by an amateur codebreaker with the
assistance of a network of computers.
The three uncracked ciphers -- a cipher is a method
of transforming text in order to conceal its meaning --
were encrypted in 1942 with a new version of the
infamous German Enigma machine, which was used
to direct attacks against Allied shipping in the Atlantic.
The M4 Project, the brainchild of Stefan Krah, a
violinist and amateur cryptographer of German birth,
is credited with cracking one of the three remaining
ciphers. The project was named in honor of the M4
Enigma machine that originally encoded the
messages.
To solve the puzzling mystery, details of which had
been published in a cryptography journal in 1995,
Krah wrote a codebreaking program and then went
online in January to post information about his
project and ask for assistance.
In an interview with the BBC, Krah, a resident of
Utrecht, The Netherlands, said it was "basic human
curiosity" that prompted him to attempt to break the
code. "Clearly, the project is from the
'because-we-can' department," Krah wrote on a
bulletin board online.
This is one of two M4 Enigma machines taken from the U-505 {a
captured German U-Boat}. After the capture, the Enigma machines
and the 900 pounds of codebooks and publications removed from
the sub were rushed to U.S. Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C.
to help the Allied code breaking effort. The ingenuity of Allied code
breakers, combined with German blunders, made it possible for the
Allies to read most messages to and from U-boats from November
1943 until the end of the war.
captured German U-Boat}. After the capture, the Enigma machines
and the 900 pounds of codebooks and publications removed from
the sub were rushed to U.S. Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C.
to help the Allied code breaking effort. The ingenuity of Allied code
breakers, combined with German blunders, made it possible for the
Allies to read most messages to and from U-boats from November
1943 until the end of the war.
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Investigative links appear above... FRJ
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As updates become available we will present them here. Frank Riccardi Director, Eyepod.Org/usassociates.us
Super Sleuths Unite... Krah was not looking for additional brain power when he posted his request for help online.
Rather, he was trolling for more computer power. The program Krah created required the might of a series of
connected computers to process his mathematical codebreaking formula.
When the response to his request for help came, Krah said, he was astonished by "the exponential growth of
participants."
On January 9, when the project began, Krah counted himself as the only participant. After his announcement
online, another five or so people joined and became regular participants.
That number expanded to some 2,500 computers whirring away as they ran through the 150 million permutations of
each letter to crack the Enigma cipher, the top priority for Allied codebreakers at the vaunted Bletchley Park
complex in Buckinghamshire, England.
Amateurs One, Pros Zero
Success for Krah came on February 20, when a jumble of 196 letters became a legible message once again after
63 years. In its encrypted form, the message appeared as follows:
NCZW VUSX PNYM INHZ XMQX SFWX WLKJ AHSH NMCO CCAK UQPM KCSM HKSE INJU SBLK IOSX CKUB HMLL
XCSJ USRR DVKO HULX WCCB GVLI YXEO AHXR HKKF VDRE WEZL XOBA FGYU JQUK GRTV UKAM EURB
VEKS UHHV OYHA BCJW MAKL FKLM YFVN RIZR VVRT KOFD ANJM OLBG FFLE OPRG TFLV RHOW OPBE
KVWM UQFM PWPA RMFH AGKX IIBG
The unencrypted message has been translated into English and verified using existing records from Hartwig Looks,
commander of the German submarine U264, which was later sunk in the North Atlantic in February 1944. The
message, sent on November 25, 1942, reads:
"Forced to submerge during attack. Depth charges. Last enemy position 0830h AJ 9863, [course] 220 degrees,
[speed] 8 knots. [I am] following [the enemy]. [Barometer] falls 14 mb, [wind] nor-nor-east, [force] 4, visibility 10
[nautical miles]."
Krah said that he is not sure the remaining two codes will be cracked. So far, the power of thousands of PCs joined
in this effort has resulted in little success. "There is no guarantee that another break will occur at all," Krah was
quoted as saying. "There is simply a fair chance."
With two messages still to break, M4 are keen for computer users to download its application and help out.
It uses brute force to test the encrypted message against all possible set-up configurations of the four-rotor
Enigma. However, this does not include the machine's plugboard, which allowed the operator to swap two letters
around before they were processed by the machine's rotors.
The plugboard added much more complexity to the encryption process than any single rotor. To address this, the
M4 Project used a "hill climbing algorithm".
"Hill climbing algorithms try to optimise an object, in this case the plugboard settings, by changing the object step by
step. After each change the "goodness" or "fitness" of the new object has to be determined by a scoring function.
Changes that lead to a "better" object are retained. Here the changes lie in constantly trying out new wirings of the
Enigma plugboard. After each change the scoring function tests a new wiring by deciphering the message and
trying to determine how closely the resulting plaintext matches the statistics of the natural language," explained the
M4 Project.
Try your hand at it, visit The M4 Project and get cracking.. Nazi Flying Saucer Photos Video by Knights Templars
Rather, he was trolling for more computer power. The program Krah created required the might of a series of
connected computers to process his mathematical codebreaking formula.
When the response to his request for help came, Krah said, he was astonished by "the exponential growth of
participants."
On January 9, when the project began, Krah counted himself as the only participant. After his announcement
online, another five or so people joined and became regular participants.
That number expanded to some 2,500 computers whirring away as they ran through the 150 million permutations of
each letter to crack the Enigma cipher, the top priority for Allied codebreakers at the vaunted Bletchley Park
complex in Buckinghamshire, England.
Amateurs One, Pros Zero
Success for Krah came on February 20, when a jumble of 196 letters became a legible message once again after
63 years. In its encrypted form, the message appeared as follows:
NCZW VUSX PNYM INHZ XMQX SFWX WLKJ AHSH NMCO CCAK UQPM KCSM HKSE INJU SBLK IOSX CKUB HMLL
XCSJ USRR DVKO HULX WCCB GVLI YXEO AHXR HKKF VDRE WEZL XOBA FGYU JQUK GRTV UKAM EURB
VEKS UHHV OYHA BCJW MAKL FKLM YFVN RIZR VVRT KOFD ANJM OLBG FFLE OPRG TFLV RHOW OPBE
KVWM UQFM PWPA RMFH AGKX IIBG
The unencrypted message has been translated into English and verified using existing records from Hartwig Looks,
commander of the German submarine U264, which was later sunk in the North Atlantic in February 1944. The
message, sent on November 25, 1942, reads:
"Forced to submerge during attack. Depth charges. Last enemy position 0830h AJ 9863, [course] 220 degrees,
[speed] 8 knots. [I am] following [the enemy]. [Barometer] falls 14 mb, [wind] nor-nor-east, [force] 4, visibility 10
[nautical miles]."
Krah said that he is not sure the remaining two codes will be cracked. So far, the power of thousands of PCs joined
in this effort has resulted in little success. "There is no guarantee that another break will occur at all," Krah was
quoted as saying. "There is simply a fair chance."
With two messages still to break, M4 are keen for computer users to download its application and help out.
It uses brute force to test the encrypted message against all possible set-up configurations of the four-rotor
Enigma. However, this does not include the machine's plugboard, which allowed the operator to swap two letters
around before they were processed by the machine's rotors.
The plugboard added much more complexity to the encryption process than any single rotor. To address this, the
M4 Project used a "hill climbing algorithm".
"Hill climbing algorithms try to optimise an object, in this case the plugboard settings, by changing the object step by
step. After each change the "goodness" or "fitness" of the new object has to be determined by a scoring function.
Changes that lead to a "better" object are retained. Here the changes lie in constantly trying out new wirings of the
Enigma plugboard. After each change the scoring function tests a new wiring by deciphering the message and
trying to determine how closely the resulting plaintext matches the statistics of the natural language," explained the
M4 Project.
Try your hand at it, visit The M4 Project and get cracking.. Nazi Flying Saucer Photos Video by Knights Templars