1917
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M-94 |
The M-94
(CSP-448) was a cryptographic device, used by the
United States Army, consisting of 25 aluminium
discs, arranged as a cylinder on an axle. Each
letter disc had a scrambled alphabet. A message
was encrypted by turning the discs until all
plain text was arranged on one line. Another line
of the disc was then read off and sent as cipher
text. The order of the different discs was the
actual secret key. Although the M-94 provided a
low level of security it was good enough for
tactical purposes. It remained in service until
1943. [1] [2] [3] |
1918
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Hebern |
The Hebern
machine, invented by Edward Hugh Hebern, was the
first of a cipher machine class called rotor
machines with one or more rotors, containing
scrambled wiring. The scrambled wiring had the
effect of a substitution cipher. The most
important difference with the simple substitution
was that the rotor turned on each depressing of a
key. Although the machine never became a
commercial success due to the limited
cryptographic strength it did lay the foundations
for many future rotor cipher machines. [1] [2] [3] |
1920
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Kryha |
The German Kryha
was a fully mechanical cipher machine with two
alphabet discs of which the inner disc stepped a
variable number of places. There was also a
larger electrical version. The Kryha was used by
the German Diplomatic Corps and Marconi England. [1] [2] [3] [4] |
1921
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A-21 |
Arvid Damm
developed the A-21, which was commercialised by
A.B. Cryptograph (the successor of Hagelin
Cryptos). It uses a revolving drum with 26
alphabet strips that can be attached in any
order. The 26 alphabets together are a scrambled
vigenére square with alphabets in reversed
order. For each encrypted letter the drum stepped
one alphabet strip further. A normal reference
alphabet is mounted in front of the drum and a
chain with low and high links controlled the
position of the reference alphabet above one of
the two visible scrambled alphabet strips on the
drum.[1] |
1923
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Enigma B |
Already in 1918
the German engineer Arthur Scherbius applied for
a patent on a machine he called Enigma. The
machine used three stepping rotors, similar to
the principle of the Hebern machine. In 1923 his
company presented their first commercial models,
the typewriter versions Enigma A and B. The
invention of the reflector and using lamps
instead of the heavy typewriter made it possible
to develop the compact Enigma C. [1] |
1925
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B-21 |
In 1925 Boris
Hagelin developed the B-21, his first cipher
machine. It used two rotors in a 5 by 5 grid
system and pins on the rotors to control the
stepping. The unique design of pinwheels would
become popular in many of Hagelin's successors. [1] [2] [3] The B-21 was revised to B-211 in 1932 [4] |
| |
The German Navy
adopts the Enigma and named it Enigma
Funkschlussel C. |
1927
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Enigma D |
The Enigma D
replaced the Enigma C and was commercialized in
different versions and sold all over the world.
Switzerland bought the Enigma K, Italy and Spain
used the Enigma D and Japan the Enigma T or
Tirpiz Enigma. All of them were broken by several
Intelligence Agencies. [1] [2] |
1931
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Enigma G |
The German Abwher
(Secret Service) started using the Enigma G
(Zahlwerk Enigma), a securer version with a
gearbox to drive the rotors. The Wehrmacht
adopted the Enigma D and revises it to Enigma I
in 1932. This version is the first to use the
plugboard which increases the key space
enormously. It is this version that would become
famous as the German wartime cipher machine,
however in 1932 the Polish Cipher Bureau broke
into the Enigma message traffic. Their knowledge
was turned over to British and French
cryptologists prior to the invasion of Poland. [1] [2] [3] |
1935
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C-35 |
On request of the
French Cipher Bureau Hagelin developed the
portable C35. This was the first real pin-and-lug
type ciphermachine. Five pinwheels, each with
another number of pins, controlled sliding bars
on a revolving drum. This drum is used as
gearwheel with a variable number of teeth,
driving a reciprocal alphabet. The machine output
was printed on a paper ribbon. [1] [2] |
1936
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T-52 STURGEON
|
The Siemens &
HalskeT-52, codenamed STURGEON by British
cryptologists, was the first important German
high level teleprinter cipher machine. It had 10
pinwheels that stepped in a very complex way.
Contacts that were controlled by the wheels were
XORed with the teletype output. [1] [2] [3] |
M-325
|
The M-325,
codename SIGFOY, was designed by William
Friedman. By 1944 it was extensively used by the
US Foreign Services. [1] [2] |
C-36 |
The Hagelin C36
was very similar to C-35 but had a protective
casing and another distribution of the lugs on
the drum. A later model had two movable lugs per
drum bar. [1] [2] [3] |
1937
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TYPEX |
The British TYPEX
was an adapted version of the Enigma with several
important improvements. The increased security
and complexity meant that the message traffic of
this machine never was broken, unlike the German
Enigma. An estimated 12,000 Typex machines were
used in the UK, Canada and New Zealand until the
1970's. [1] [2] |
1938
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BC-543 |
The Hagelin C38,
another version of the C-36, came on the market. [1] [2] Another Hagelin C-38 variant was the
BC-543 which incorporated a keyboard and both
cipher and plaintext output [1]
|
1939
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PURPLE
|
PURPLE (97-shiki
O-bun In-ji-ki) was a Japanese cipher machine,
used by their Diplomatic Services. Both British
and US cryptologists had already broken the
PURPLE message traffic before the attack on Pearl
Harbor. [1] [2] |
Lacida
|
The Polish Cipher
Bureau developed the Lacida, also called LCD. It
was a rotor cipher machine. Although similar to
the German Enigma it had some major security
flaws such as the lack of a plugboard, the
reflector design and the wiring. [1] |
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In 1939 the
German Kriegsmarine took over the Wehrmacht
Enigma model, designated it M3, and extended the
set of rotors from five to eight. |
1940
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SIGABA
|
The ECM Mark II,
codename SIGABA, was the most important American
rotor cipher machine for high level
communications. The SIGABA had three banks of
five rotors each. The first bank were the main
rotors to encipher the alphabet. The second bank
of rotors scrambled four signals into one to six
signals. The third bank of rotors scrambled these
signals and used them to advance the main
encryption rotors in a very complex pseudorandom
fashion. The SIGABA traffic is never been broken
and the machine remained in use until the 1950's.
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
SZ-40 TUNNY
|
The
German Lorenz SZ-40, codenamed TUNNY by British
cryptologists, had 12 pinwheels and was similar
in design to the STURGEON. TUNNY was also used
for high level German communications. It was
broken by British cryptologists and they
developed the first electronic digital computer
ever, the top secret Colossus, to automate the
breaking of the TUNNY messages. The Colossus was
so secret that for many years the world believed
that the American ENIAC was the first digital
computer. [1] [2] [Colossus]
|
M-209
|
Hagelin succeeds
in selling the C-38 to the United States Armed
Forces. They produced a licensed version,
designated M-209, in large quantities as low
level tactical cipher machine. Approximately
140,000 M-209's were produced. [1] [2] [3] [4] [Simulator] |
1941
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SG-41 |
Schlusselgeraet
41 or SG-41 was the last cipher machine that was
developed by Germany during WW2. Its encryption
principles were clearly based on the pin-and-lug
machines of Hagelin, with some changes to improve
its security. German crypto experts wanted to
replace the Enigma machine by the SG-41, but by
then tens of thousands of Enigma's were already
in service. By the end of the war only about 500
of these SG-41 were produced. [1] |
1942
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Enigma M4 |
In 1942 the
German Kriegsmarine introduced the notorious
Enigma M4. The M4 had four instead of three
rotors, but the fourth rotor could not step since
the stepping mechanism was identical to the
three-rotor version. After an initial ten months
blackout the British codebreakers in Bletchley
Park succeeded in breaking into the M4 message
traffic, codename SHARK, thanks to cryptanalysis
of the fourth rotor and the capturing of
codebooks and weather codes that were used as
cribs. [1] [2] [Simulator] |
| |
JADE was the
codename, given by the US, to a Japanese cipher
machines that was used by the Imperial Japanese
Navy from 1942 to 1944. It was used to encipher
messages in katakana, using an alphabet of fifty
characters. [1] |
1943
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SIGCUM |
The SIGCUM or
M-228 was developed by the US as attachment for a
teleprinter. The system produced a pseudorandom
sequence of five bits which were XORed with the
teleprinter signal. To produce the sequence the
SIGCUM used a bank of five rotors with 26
contacts each. Thirteen of the inputs passed
through the rotors to be scrambled and result in
a five-signal output. The rotors stepped just
like an odometer, but which rotor was the fast
one, and which the slower ones was controlled by
switches. Once in service the machine showed some
cryptographic flaws and was withdrawn
immediately. After some revisions it was brought
back into service until the 1960's. [1] |
1944
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CCM |
To enable
communications between the Allied Forces in WW2
and later NATO, the US developed the CCM,
Combined Cipher Machine. Adaptors were developed
to make the CCM interoperable with both the US
SIGABA and the British TYPEX. There are reports
about security problems with the encryption
system used and that some rotor combinations had
dangerously short cycle periods. CCM proved to be
a very expensive program. [1] [2] |
1947
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NEMA |
In 1941, after
the commercial Enigma was broken, Swiss
mathematicians started working on a new and more
secure design. In 1944 the first prototypes were
ready and in 1947 the NEMA or Neue Machine (new
machine) came into service. Although basically
very similar to the Enigma, the NEMA had ten
rotors, of which four were wired to scramble the
signals and one was used as reflector. The other
five rotors were used to control the stepping of
these rotors. [1] [2] [3] |
1950
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SINGLET |
The BID/60
SINGLET is a British machine, used by the
Intelligence services. The similarity in
technical details suggests that this machine was
related to the American KL-7 which went into
service in 1952. [1] |
PORTEX |
The Portex
BID/50/1 was mainly used by the British Secret
Service [1] |
1952
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KL-7 ADONIS |
In 1952 the
American National Security Agency introduced the
KL-7 ADONIS, also known as POLLUX, as replacement
for the SIGABA. The machine was developed in the
late 1940's. Output of the KL-7 was printed on a
paper ribbon and some versions had a paper
puncher for 5-bit code output. The KL-7 had eight
rotors of which the fourth rotor from the left
didn't move. The other rotors moved in a very
complex way. The rotors were placed in an outer
ring with cams. The stepping of the rotors was
electrically directed by microswitches that were
controlled by the cams on the rings. Rotor and
stepping unit wiring remain classified. The KL-7
was used by many Allies and retired in 1983. [1] [2] [3] [KL-7 Simulator] |
BC-52 |
After the low
level encryption C-38 and M-209 Hagelin decided
to develop a system that would be usable for high
level military and diplomatic encryption. In 1952
the Hagelin C-52 came on the market. Several
improvements were introduced in the 52 model. The
rotation of the pin-wheels became irregular and
depended on the pin positions of the previous
wheels and for the 6 wheel model there was now
the choice between 12 pin-wheels. Also the number
of slide-bars was increased to 32. A slightly
different machine was the CX-52. A separate
keyboard attachment was available under the name
B-52. The combination of machine and keyboard was
designated BC-52. Some versions had a punched
tape reader or had only number keys. This very
popular machine was sold all over the world and
was widely used until the 1990's. [1] [2] [3] [4] [Simulator] |
1955
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CD-55 |
On demand of the
French Gendarmerie Hagelin developed a small
pocket device with the name CD-55. Two years
later, the CD-57 was manufactured. Input and
output consisted of a ring with an alphabet and a
rotatable disc inside. The alphabet was displaced
by pressing a levergrip with the thumb. The
displacement depended on the setup of 6 small
pin-wheels, similar to those used in the C Type
machines. About 12,000 of these pocket models
were sold to different countries. [1] [2] [3] |
1960
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OMI |
The OMI (Ottico
Meccanica Italiano) was an Italian rotor cipher
machine with seven rotors. Each rotor could be
assembled from different wirings and rings with
notches. [1] |
1963
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HX-63 |
The only
electromechanical rotor machine, produced by
Hagelin was the advanced HX-63. The HX-63 had 9
rotors with 41 circuits of which the surplus
wires were looped back on the outside (somewhat
similar to the KL-7 ADONIS). All circuits could
be rearranged and the rotors performed irregular
movements similar to the pinwheels on the C-52
series. All this provided an incredible key space
of 10600. Production of the HX-63 was
abandoned due to the development of fully
electronic cipher machines. Only 12 of these
machine are known to have been manufactured. [1] [2] |
1965
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Fialka |
A true Cold War
machine was the Russian Fialka M-125. Developed
in the 1950's, the machine came into service in
the Soviet Forces in 1965. Although based on the
Enigma, Russian cryptologists were well aware of
the security flaws of that machine, and
incorporated solutions to all of those flaws into
this wonderful piece of mechanics. The Fialka had
ten rotors with 30 wirings each and these rotors
stepped in opposite directions. Each rotor could
be composed from different wiring cores and rings
that controlled their stepping. The plugboard was
replaced by a punched card reader and a 'magic'
circuit in the reflector coutered the Enigma's
flaw that a letter could never be encrypted into
itself. The Fialka was top secret until the
1990's. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] |
1970's ...
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H4605
|
The rise of
electronics in the 1970's lead to smaller and
cheaper electronic machines and the
electromechanical versions could not compete with
them. Although the electromechanical machines
still remained in use for many years they would
gradually be replaced by newer and sophisticated
electronics and cryptographic software on
computers. Hagelin's H-4605 was one of the first
new generation machines with fully electronic
generated key. [1] [2] |
Gretacoder |
Another nice
example of electronic cipher machines is the
Gretacoder 805 from Edgar Gretener. This machine
is mounted in a standard briefcase and
incorporates a little printer. [1] |
HC-520 |
The Hagelin
HC-520 was a pocket size cipher machine with LCD
display. It can be seen as an electronic CD-57,
but with a more complex encryption. There were
several different version of which one was
mounted together with a printer in a Samsonite
briefcase. The HC-520 was in production until
1979. [1] |
KL-51 RACE |
NSA developed the
KL-51 in the 1980's. The KL-51 is a fully
electronic rugedized cipher machine. Key entering
was done by reading in a punched paper tape and
it had a 20 letter display for message editing.
The KL-51 was designated codename RACE by Canada
and NATO. [1] [2] |
MK-85C |
At the end of the
1980's, the Soviet Union developed the
ELEKTRONIKA MK-85, its most advanced commercial
calculator ever to be in production (the MK- 9x
series are prototypes or limited production). The
MK-85 was a programmable CMOS BASIC
microcomputer, apparently based on the western
BASIC machines. The top secret military MK-85C
cryptographic device with codename AZIMUT was
based on the commercial MK-85. It is mainly used
by the Soviet Forces. The text for ciphering is
entered from the alphanumeric keyboard and can be
edited on its matrix display. The MK-85C has 10100
key variations and can encrypt in both numeric
and alphanumeric mode. [1] This generation of handheld crypto
devices can be seen as the last real stand-alone
cipher machines. In the computer era, all firms
that developed and manufactured cipher machines
shifted their focus to on-line and real-time data
encryption and software solutions on computer.
Nonetheless, pocket-size electronic encryption
devices are still developed and produced for
special purposes. Most of the old cipher machines
are now hot collector items.
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