1917
|
|
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
|
|
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
|
|
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
|
|
A-21 |
Arvid Damm developed
the A-21, which was commercialized 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
|
|
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] [2] |
1925
|
|
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 adapted to B-211 in 1932. |
| |
The German Navy
adopts the Enigma and named it Enigma
Funkschlussel C. |
1927
|
|
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
|
|
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
|
|
C-35 |
On request of the
French Cipher Bureau Hagelin developed the
portable C35. This was the first real pin-and-lug
type cipher machine. 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
|
|
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] |
1937
|
|
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
|
|
BC-543 |
The Hagelin C38,
another version of the C-36, came on the market [1]. Another Hagelin C-38 variant was the
BC-543 which incorporated a keyboard and both
cipher and plaintext output [2] [3] |
1939
|
|
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] [2] [3] |
| |
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
|
|
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] |
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
|
|
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] [2] |
1942
|
|
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
|
|
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] [2] |
1944
|
|
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
|
|
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
|
|
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] [2] |
PORTEX |
The Portex BID/50/1 was
mainly used by the British Secret Service [1] [2] |
1952
|
|
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
|
|
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 lever 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] [4] |
1960
|
|
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
|
|
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] [3] |
1965
|
|
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 solved 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] [6] |
1970's ...
|
|
H460
|
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-460 was one of the first new
generation machines with fully electronic
generated key. [1] [2] [3] |
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] [2] |
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] [2] |
KL-51 RACE |
NSA developed the KL-51
in the 1980's. The KL-51 is a fully electronic
ruggedized 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] [3] |
MK-85C |
|
