From msuinfo!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!warwick!uknet!cix.compulink.co.uk!klockstone Fri May 20 09:34:08 1994 Newsgroups: sci.crypt Path: msuinfo!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!warwick!uknet!cix.compulink.co.uk!klockstone From: klockstone@cix.compulink.co.uk ("Keith Lockstone") Subject: History of Enigma after WW II Message-ID: Organization: Compulink Information eXchange Date: Sun, 15 May 1994 15:25:36 GMT Lines: 117 Prelude: on the 19th October 1993, Sir Harry Hinsley, the official historian of British Intelligence in World War II, gave a seminar on 'The Influence of ULTRA in the Second World War' to the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory. The talk was recorded and I've had it transcribed. Mark Lomas turned it into HTML and it's installed on the Security Group's World-Wide Web pages. They are at: html://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/Security Having been at Sir Harry's lecture, I've become interested in the history of Enigma after the end of World War II. Little seems to be known or have been published about the latter phases of its life. After a little reading, some facts emerge that indicate that Enigma continued to be used for a number of years. Bureaucrats ignored certain evidence and experts' misgivings despite its weaknesses being known from early times. More information, particularly references, would be most welcome. Best regards, Keith Lockstone. 1. After World War II, Enigma machines continued to be manufactured and sold by the West Germans and the Swiss - seemingly oblivious to the success of Ultra. They were sold widely in Africa, the Middle East and South America for the purposes of diplomatic and military traffic. [PIN78] 2. Swiss intelligence knew of the breaking of the German Naval Enigma ciphers in August 1943 and warned the Germans - who chose to disbelieve it [KNI86]. 3. A lot of these machines presumably remained in use until 1974 when Winterbotham's book [WIN74] really let the cat out of the bag. 4. Earlier published accounts (in the USA, France and Poland) had strongly hinted that Enigma had been compromised, but little notice seems to have been taken of the fact [KAHN67], [HINS79]. Even a solution to an early Enigma was demonstrated by a German cryptanalyst in the 1930s [KNI86]. 5. As far as is known, the Soviets did not warn any of the Enigma users - because they could break the codes and were in possession of the same intelligence as the UK/US. This should not have escaped the UK/US. [KNI88] 6. Second hand Enigmas are rare and it is difficult for anyone to purchase one. 7. It must be assumed that those who used them after WW II would have destroyed them when they found out they had been compromised - to avoid embarrassment. 8. This all poses some interesting questions: a) Are there any Enigmas still in operational use? b) When were the last ones taken out of service and by whom? c) Who were the Swiss and German manufacturers involved? d) What happened to all the captured Enigmas? (Did the UK/US/USSR pass them on to other countries?) e) How many Enigmas were sold after WW II? f) How many of these were genuine captured models and how many were of later manufacture? g) Which version was sold - the 3 or the 4 rotor version? h) Which version of the operating instructions were supplied - the later or the earlier version? (ie the 3 or the easier to break, 6 letter 'indicator' [WELC82]) i) Was any further development work done on the various original German (WW II) models? i) Are there any surplus Enigmas available? The author knows of a science museum in Cambridge (The Whipple Museum) that would appreciate one - or any 1940s cryptographic equipment. [HINS79] HINSLEY, F.H. et al, 'British Intelligence in the Second World War - Volume 1', HMSO, London 1979-84. [KAHN67] KAHN, David, 'The Codebreakers', Macmillan, New York 1967. [KNI86] KNIGHTLEY, Phillip, 'The Second Oldest Profession', Deutsch, London 1986, ISBN 0-233-97968-9. [KNI88] KNIGHTLEY, Phillip, 'Philby: KGB Masterspy', Deutsch, London 1988, ISBN 0-233-97968-9. [PIN78] PINCHER, Chapman, 'Inside Story', Sidgwick and Jackson, London 1978. [WELC82] WELCHMAN, Gordon, 'The Hut Six Story', McGraw-Hill, New York 1982, ISBN 0-07-069180-0. [WIN74] WINTERBOTHAM, F.W., 'The Ultra Secret', Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1974, ISBN 0-297-76832-8.