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| Beginning of Enigma communication |
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Derived from the Greek word meaning "riddle",
the cipher machine "Enigma" was invented by
the German engineer Arthur Scherbius and his friend Richard
Ritter in 1918.
With the ability to create an astrological number of ten
quadrillion (10,000 x 1 trillion) combinations, Enigma
was the ultimate cipher machine used by the German army
during the Second World War.
For enemy countries such as France and England, the encryptions
of the Enigma were, indeed, a "riddle". |
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| Enigma’s
Structure |
By pressing
the key for the letter that you would like to cipher
(In this case, "A")
a current will be sent from Rotor 1 to Rotor 3,
from the right contact point to the left contact
point.
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The current
will force a change and convert the original letter
to a different one by using the reflector, which
will then go back again from Rotor 3 to Rotor 1.
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| The selected
current will light a lamp at the right contact point.
The highlighted letter (In this case, "G")
is the ciphered letter. |
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In order to make this easier to understand, the chart is a
visual representation and the explanation and graph
are a simplified version of an Enigma cipher machine’s
workings. |
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In actual use, the plug board would be set with the connector
cable so that the circuits for the optional letter
can be changed in order to make the cipher more
complicated. |
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Like the mileage on an automobile,
the right rotor (In this case, Rotor 1) will spin
with 1 push of a letter so that the cipher key will
change with every letter. |
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Enigma not only ciphers, but deciphers as well. By setting the
Rotor correctly, the deciphered lamps will light
up when the ciphered message is typed. |
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