Posted on July 21, 2008 by latenighter
The Enigma was one of the best of
the new electromechanical cipher machines produced for the commercial market
in the 1920s. Hugo Koch, a Dutchman, conceived of the machine in 1919.
Arthur Scherbius first produced it commercially in 1923. Impressed by its
security, which was based on statistical analysis, the German government
acquired all rights to the machine and adapted it to the needs of its new,
modern military forces. It became the standard cipher machine of the military
services, of German agents, and of the secret police. It was also used
at all echelons from high command to front-line tactical units including
individual airplanes, tanks, and ships. An ordinary three-wheel Enigma
with reflector and six plug connections generated the following number
of coding positions: |
| 3,283,883,513,796,974,198,700,882,069,882,752,878,379,955,261,095,623,685,444,055,315,226,006, |
433,616,627,409,666,933,182,371,154,802,769,920,000,
000,000 |
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Filed under: the map | Tagged: cipher machine, codes, enigma, history
