Enigma

Enigma

Description

Make your own Enigma Machine, the famous encryption device used during World War II. This fun activity puts encryption/decryption methods in a historical context and also can lead to discussions about how modern day encryption technology works.

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Enigma
Cryptomuseum Engima
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Background

The Enigma was an encryption machine famously used by the German military during World War 2. The power of the Enigma came from being simple for the operator to use but difficult to determine the encrypted letter for any input letter. The number of possible ways to jumble a message through an Enigma was nearly 159 quintillion. Thanks to incredible mathematicians in Poland and tenacious work by the British at Bletchley Park, the Allies broke the Enigma code. This gave the Allies the ability to read top secret communications during the war and greatly disrupt the Nazi German war machine.

WYSIWYG

The Enigma was an electro-mechanical machine similar to a typewriter. The most simple models had three wheels on top of the case that allowed the operator to set internal rotors into a certain position. The operator would press a key on the keyboard which would activate an electric circuit and light up a different letter. For example, a T might be pressed but the letter G would light up.

Soldiers in the field and sailors at sea would set their Enigma machines’ rotors to the same as the person sending a message. They would copy seemingly random letters via Morse Code from the radio. The Enigma operator would then key in each “random” letter and write down the resulting letter that was lit up on the machine. Each key press on the keyboard would turn a rotor one step and provide a new, different path for the electricity to flow inside the machine.

Thanks to the work of British mathematician Alan Turing, the Allies developed The Bombe, a top-secret electronic machine used to quickly try every possible combination of letters in order to crack the Enigma code. This gave the Allies the ability to quickly read German encrypted messages and help win the war. The Bombe was an incredible feat of engineering and the predecessor of the first true electronic computer named Colossus. Colossus was used to crack the Lorenz cipher which was an even more complex than Enigma. However, because Colossus was classified, the University of Pennsylvania’s ENIAC was publicly given the crown of “first computer.”

The Enigma remains perhaps the most popular encryption device in history. There are countless stories of other encryption techniques, but none has intrigue and impact that the German Enigma had during World War 2. What follows will guide you through the creation of your very own Enigma machine.

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Assembly
Accordion Items
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How to Use
Accordion Items
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Practice
Cards
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Rotor settings:  A A A A A

Encrypted:  IVWYQDV

Decrypted (hover to reveal):  DECODED

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Rotor settings:  A A A A A

Encrypted:  PVWZARCYHRRCKW

Decrypted (hover to reveal):  SECRETxMESSAGE

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Rotor settings:  C Y B E R

Encrypted:  YPELONUPTOZS

Decrypted (hover to reveal):  CYBERxISxFUN

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Rotor settings:  C O D E S

Encrypted:  hufvegz

Decrypted (hover to reveal):  AMERICA

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Rotor settings:  T U B E S

Encrypted:  actrqinxrnqlmvg

Decrypted (hover to reveal):  ExPLURIBUSxUNUM

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Rotor settings:  R A D I O

Encrypted:  yedwpqbubrjhwsetlhden

Decrypted (hover to reveal):  WHATxHATHxGODxWROUGHT

*This phrase was the first official first Morse code message transmitted in the US on May 24, 1844.

WYSIWYG

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