When the Enigma machine is used, the Enigma machine itself is the algorithm the way in which it is set up is the key. Which is approximately 158 million million million. Therefore, the total number of possible ways in which a standard army-issue Enigma machine could be set up was:
The enigma machine full#
The maths behind this calculation is complex, but a full explanation is given here, a page from Tony Sale's website. The answer is that there are approximately 150,000,000,000,000 - that is, 150 million million - possible combinations of 10 pairs of 26 letters on the plug board. Question 4: How many ways are there to link up pairs of letters on the Enigma machine?.If A were plugged to B then, on typing the letter A, the electric current would follow the path that was normally associated with the letter B, and vice versa.Įnigma machines had 10 cables with which to link up pairs of letters. The Enigma machine had several cables with a plug at each end that could be used to plug pairs of letters together. On the front of the machine was another section called the "plugboard". Question 3: How many possible "Ring settings" were there on a 3-rotor army Enigma?Ī diagrammatic representation of the plugboard.The point at which the right hand rotor kicked the middle rotor forward and the point at which the middle rotor kicked the left hand rotor forward could be changed. When the middle rotor had completed a full revolution, it would When it had completed another revolution, it would again kick the middle rotor forward one position. Once it had completed a full revolution (ie moved forward 26 places), it would kick the middle rotor forward one position. Question 2: Once you have chosen the order of the rotors, how many possible ways can you set the starting positions of the rotors?Įvery time a letter was pressed on the keyboard, the rotor on the far right would move around one place.Question 1: How many possible ways are there of positioning 5 rotors in 3 slots in the Enigma? ( Check your answer.).There were five rotors to choose from and they could be inserted into three positions on the Enigma machine. Copyright Simon SinghĪrmy issue Enigma machines had three revolving "wheels" or "rotors" that could be taken out and changed about.The first task for an Enigma operator would be to decide which rotor went in which position. How the Enigma machine workedĪn Enigma machine rotor. They continued to rely on the machine throughout the Second World War, believing it to be absolutely unbreakable. The Enigma machine's place in history was secured in 1924 when the German armed forces began using a specially adapted military version to encrypt their communications. Arthur Scherbius, a German businessman, patented the Enigma in 1918 and began selling it commercially to banks and businesses. This encryption tool became one of the most notorious of all time: the Enigma cipher machine. In 1915 two Dutch Naval officers had invented a machine to encrypt messages. (For more information, have a look at our explanation of the basic terminology of codes and ciphers.)
Both the Allies and the Axis countries were looking for a new way to encrypt messages - a way that would result inĬomplete security. But security blunders on both sides during the First World War highlighted a need for a higher level of secrecy, with more advanced methods of enciphering messages.
Up till the Second World War, the most advanced forms of encryption involved simple paper and pencil techniques. German soldiers using an Enigma machine during the second world war
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