Presentation Transcript
Cryptography During World War II: Cryptography During World War II Wednesday, December 7, 2005
CS 4235 A
Mohammad Abolfathian
Ashley Durham
Michel Mansour
Michael Norris
Kalpit Patel
Vimal Patel
Agenda: Agenda Discuss context of war and cryptography.
German encryption systems.
Battle of the Atlantic.
Bletchley Park’s successes.
Japanese cryptography.
Influences on battles in the Pacific
Allied invasion of France.
Victory.
Legacy left by the conflict.
Trivia Question!: Trivia Question! What happened on this infamous date, sixty-four years ago?
+/-5 EC points on your final average!!! N-P “Approved”!
Note: EC not really approved.
Introduction to WWII: Introduction to WWII 1939-1941 – Germany invades Poland, France, and Russia
Battle of the Atlantic
July – Oct 1940 - Battle of Britain
Dec 1941 – America enters the war
1942-1944 – Allied landings in Africa, Italy and France
May 1945 - VE Day 1937 – Japan continues expansion in China and Pacific
Dec 1941 – Pearl Harbor
1942 – Battle of the Coral Sea, Battle of Midway
1943-1945 – Allied “island hopping”
Aug 1945 – Atomic bombs detonated
Sep 1945 – VJ Day
Cryptography in the Conflict: Cryptography in the Conflict Both sides realize need for secure communications
Cryptographic equipment deployed
Focused intelligence effort on attacking these systems
Encrypted traffic broken
High impact on the war
Laid foundation for modern cryptography and computing
Enigma & Fish: Enigma & Fish Enigma
Rotor-based encryption device
Poly-alphabetic Substitution Cipher
Introduced 1920s
Evolved during war
Fish (Lorenz or T52)
Stream Cipher (more than a PNG+XOR)
Deployed 1940
Broken early 1942 at Bletchley Park
Used by German High Command
Battle of the Atlantic/Britain: Battle of the Atlantic/Britain Blitz – Jul-Oct 1940
Intelligence provided command view of battle
Enigma traffic defeated regularly
Maintained Allied foothold on Europe Fought 1939-1945
German offensive against Allied shipping
U-boat tactics relied heavily on Enigma communication
By 1941, most traffic was read by Allies
Bletchley Park: Bletchley Park British code-breaking headquarters
Occupied by British intelligence in August, 1939
Brilliant mathematicians
Alan Turing
Important cryptanalytical breakthroughs
Cracking Enigma
Colossus
Bombes & Colossus: Bombes & Colossus Bombe (1940)
Enigma killer
First built by Polish scientists in 1937
British built their own in 1940
Enigma's fundamental flaw: no character encoded as itself
“Factory-style attack”
Colossus (1943)
First programmable computer
Designed to break “Fish”
Human: weeks vs. Colossus: hours
Produced intelligence used in the precise timing of D-Day
Purple: Purple Japanese diplomatic cryptosystem
Intelligence stored in purple binders
Electromechanical step-switching device
Used from 1939 to the end of the war
Poor key choices allowed it to be broken
JN-25: JN-25 Japanese Military code
Broken after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Provided intelligence that aided in the U.S. victories at the Battle of Midway
and the Battle of Coral Sea
Provided intelligence that provided the U.S. with the location of Yamamoto Isoroku that allowed his assassination
Pacific Theater: Pacific Theater Battle of Coral Sea
May 1942
Major turning point in
the Pacific War
First carrier naval engagement
Indecisive
Battle of Midway
June 1942
Prevented Japan from
becoming a hegemony
in the Pacific
D-Day: D-Day June 6, 1944
Timing dictated by intelligence
Several German battalions were expected to be absent
Intelligence turned out to be incorrect
Nature of intelligence
Victory: Victory V-E Day
May 8, 1945
V-J Day
August 15, 1945
Intelligence directly led to both victories.
Significantly shorted duration of conflict
Conclusion: Conclusion Intelligence and cryptanalysis was decisive in both theaters
Programmable computers born
Modern cryptography and Computing linked
Foundations for applied cryptography
Slide16:
Thank you.
Any questions?