What is the history of cryptography?
The first known evidence of cryptography can be traced to the use of ‘hieroglyph’. Some 4000 years ago, the Egyptians used to communicate by messages written in hieroglyph. One such hieroglyph is shown below. Later, the scholars moved on to using simple mono-alphabetic substitution ciphers during 500 to 600 BC.
What was the Enigma machine used for?
Enigma was a cipher device used by Nazi Germany’s military command to encode strategic messages before and during World War II.
Who invented Enigma machine?
Arthur ScherbiusEnigma machine / Inventor
Similar machines were first made in the early 20th century, and the first ‘Enigma’ was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius in 1918, who sought to sell it for commercial, rather than military, purposes. Above: Enigma machine with four rotors.
What are the cryptography methods?
Caesar cipher, monoalphabetic cipher, homophonic substitution cipher, Polyalphabetic Cipher, Playfair cipher, rail fence, One-time pad, hill cipher are some of the examples of cryptography techniques.
How has cryptology been used?
Modern cryptography uses sophisticated mathematical equations (algorithms) and secret keys to encrypt and decrypt data. Today, cryptography is used to provide secrecy and integrity to our data, and both authentication and anonymity to our communications.
How did the Enigma machine work?
The Enigma has an electromechanical rotor mechanism that scrambles the 26 letters of the alphabet. In typical use, one person enters text on the Enigma’s keyboard and another person writes down which of 26 lights above the keyboard illuminated at each key press.
When was the Enigma machine used?
The Enigma machine was used commercially from the early 1920s and was adopted by the militaries and governments of various countries—most famously, Nazi Germany. A series of three rotors from an Enigma machine scrambler.
Who decoded the Enigma machine?
Alan Turing
Alan Turing was a brilliant mathematician. Born in London in 1912, he studied at both Cambridge and Princeton universities. He was already working part-time for the British Government’s Code and Cypher School before the Second World War broke out.
When was the Enigma machine revealed?
On July 9, 1941, British cryptologists help break the secret code used by the German army to direct ground-to-air operations on the Eastern front.
What are traditional cryptography techniques?
It is a mono-alphabetic cipher wherein each letter of the plaintext is substituted by another letter to form the ciphertext. For this type of scheme, both sender and receiver agree on a ‘secret shift number’ for shifting the alphabet. This number which is between 0 and 25 becomes the key of encryption.