Michael Magri2ndSupply Chain Specialist at Costco Wholesale Corporation - At 30K max connections, please follow! 6 hours ago • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn
There’s a reason Germany believed its WW2 Enigma cipher machine was unbreakable: it was capable of up to 103 sextillion (103,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) encryption settings, which were changed daily.
But at Bletchley Park, 21-year-old mathematician John Herivel realises the key to cracking Enigma lies not in the machine itself, but in taking advantage of human errors by its operators.
But at Bletchley Park, 21-year-old mathematician John Herivel realises the key to cracking Enigma lies not in the machine itself, but in taking advantage of human errors by its operators.
Enigma was cracked by a roomful of underappreciated, brilliant WOMEN, not one young man. Give credit where it's due.
11 Replies on Pamela (Williams) Muraca’s comment
Daniel Walsh, M.Ed. Daniel, your comment overlooks the well-documented history of the Enigma codebreaking effort. The major mathematical and engineering breakthroughs that led to the cracking of Enigma were made by individuals like Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, and Dilly Knox—men whose work is thoroughly recorded in wartime documents, published papers, and personal accounts. These breakthroughs include Turing’s design of the Bombe machine and Welchman’s improvements to it, which were crucial to the operation.
As I already stated, it’s absolutely true that women made up the majority of Bletchley Park’s staff (about 75%) and their work was essential to the daily operations, including running the machines, analyzing intercepted messages, and handling vast amounts of information. However, the historical record does not support the idea that women were responsible for the core cryptanalytic innovations or that men simply took credit for those achievements. The leadership and primary cryptanalytic roles were overwhelmingly held by men, largely because of the social restrictions of the time.
It’s important to recognize both the barriers women faced and the actual distribution of credit, based on the evidence.
As I already stated, it’s absolutely true that women made up the majority of Bletchley Park’s staff (about 75%) and their work was essential to the daily operations, including running the machines, analyzing intercepted messages, and handling vast amounts of information. However, the historical record does not support the idea that women were responsible for the core cryptanalytic innovations or that men simply took credit for those achievements. The leadership and primary cryptanalytic roles were overwhelmingly held by men, largely because of the social restrictions of the time.
It’s important to recognize both the barriers women faced and the actual distribution of credit, based on the evidence.
The real solution to Enigma came from the very hard work of the Poles, and an odd stroke of luck from the French. And then the British did their part.
God bless America His hand at work.
8 Replies on Bob Wittkower’s comment
Arianne X Jesus Christ is real. Read the book of evidence in photo written by an agnostic who proved Jesus Christ so he converted to Christianity.
Bob Wittkower Jesus Christ very likely never existed but if he did it was only as a human being. He is most likely a composite fictional character.
Arianne X Wow ! Where have you been under a rock the last 3 years? The atheists-theists debate tge evidence was presented and the atheist moderator admitted it was proven by the evidence that Jesus Christ is a historical figure and the secular history proves it. The secular history admits He was Jesus Christ the divine mystery of God-man on earth. The historical past Bible scholars and the current most prominent Bible and religion school on FB states Jesus Christ is a historical figure who absolutely existed and the eyewitness prove he was resurrected. The resurrection proves Jesus Christ was God. Read Know the Truth by Milne. Read the Evidence book in the comment.
Sextillion is a real number and it’s wild.
I’m sure I’ve read that Polish code breakers cracked enigma before Bletchley.
1 Comment on Richard Hobbs’ comment
Richard Hobbs Bletchley Park John Herivel cracking Enigma is Not True.
A German submarine caught fire crew had to abandon the sub and an American Destroyer came along and boarded the Submarine and found what turned out to be the Enigma machine and to 2 Codebooks one of which was the Offices Codebook which was the most important.
A German submarine caught fire crew had to abandon the sub and an American Destroyer came along and boarded the Submarine and found what turned out to be the Enigma machine and to 2 Codebooks one of which was the Offices Codebook which was the most important.
He was a brilliant man but unfortunately many people died at the risk of showing Germany that they had broken the code. Sometimes that’s the fortunes of war!
What vulnerabilities lie within our current cryptographic methods? Creating a algorithm that relies on the difficulty of division seems wild.
1 Comment on Lydell Aaron’s comment
Lydell Aaron Bletchley Park John Herivel cracking Enigma is Not True.
A German submarine caught fire crew had to abandon the sub and an American Destroyer came along and boarded the Submarine and found what turned out to be the Enigma machine and to 2 Codebooks one of which was the Offices Codebook which was the most important.
A German submarine caught fire crew had to abandon the sub and an American Destroyer came along and boarded the Submarine and found what turned out to be the Enigma machine and to 2 Codebooks one of which was the Offices Codebook which was the most important.
Thanks for sharing, Michael
Benedict Cumberbatch would be so disappointed in this!!!
The breakthrough came when Alan Turing basically stumbled upon social engineering that hackers use a million times a day to steal your identity.
He realized he didn't need to crack the trillions of possibilities if you make basic assumptions like Adolf Hitler is always spelled the same and being the narcissist he was would always proudly sign his messages. Don't dare misspell 'de Fuhrer'
But soon we had our own Enigma from the Navajo native people that was far more efficient.
The breakthrough came when Alan Turing basically stumbled upon social engineering that hackers use a million times a day to steal your identity.
He realized he didn't need to crack the trillions of possibilities if you make basic assumptions like Adolf Hitler is always spelled the same and being the narcissist he was would always proudly sign his messages. Don't dare misspell 'de Fuhrer'
But soon we had our own Enigma from the Navajo native people that was far more efficient.
Fascinating to read about the Enigma Machine, the technology behind it and how the code was broken. Thanks for sharing!
Never the final solution. Stay vigilant.
