The War Nerd on the Crimea crisis
Everything you know about the Crimea is wrong (-er)Interview with HuffPost Live (segment starts at 22:50)All hail the War Nerd!
View ArticleTo err is human
I’ve rewritten The British War Office Cypher using information from TICOM report I-51 and the War Diary of Inspectorate 7/VI. I had written that the Germans were able to read this system from early...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New book on the Italian codebreakers of WWII
The book Ultra» la fine di un mito. La guerra dei codici tra gli inglesi e le marine italiane. 1934-1945-‘Ultra’ the end of a myth. The war of the codes between the British and Italian navies....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The epic quest for the Carlson-Goldsberry report
During WWII the US State Department used several cryptosystems in order to protect its radio communications from the Axis powers. For low level messages the unenciphered Gray and Brown codebooks were...
View ArticleSome thoughts on Soviet tank reliability in WWII
The Eastern front was the largest land campaign of WWII and millions of soldiers fought and died there in the period 1941-45. Although infantry dominated the fighting both sides used a large number of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Soviet cryptologic security failures in WWII – A sneak peak
I’ve already covered the cryptologic failures of the United States and Britainin WWII but I still haven’t covered the Soviet Union. According to Soviet/Russian sources their codes were impenetrable and...
View ArticleNSA in the news - yet again!
Q&A with Edward SnowdenReport on NSA spying by Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
View ArticleHeartbleed bug and OSS codes
The recently discovered Heartbleedbug is considered to be one of the worst compromises of internet security, so check to see if the websites that you’re using have fixed it and change your passwords.I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Soviet pre-arranged form reports
The war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was the largest land campaign of WWII, with millions of troops fighting in the vast areas of Eastern Europe. In this conflict both sides used every...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Typex cipher machines for the Polish Foreign Ministry
In 1926, the British Government set up an Inter-Departmental Cypher Committee to investigate the possibility of replacing the codebooks then used by the armed forces, the Foreign Office, the Colonial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Australian codebreakers of WWII
The very interesting book ‘Breaking Japanese Diplomatic Codes David Sissons and D Special Section during the Second World War’ is available for download from the Australian National University’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Japanese J-19 FUJI code
In order to protect its diplomatic communications Japan’s Foreign Ministry used several cryptologic systems during WWII. In 1939 the PURPLE cipher machine was introduced for the most important...
View ArticleUpdate
I have added a decoded message from the Bern OSS station in Allen Dulles and the compromise of OSS codes in WWII. This confirms the German statements that they could read OSS communications during WWII.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Compromise of the State Department’s strip cipher in 1944
During WWII the US State Department used several cryptosystems in order to protect its radio communications from the Axis powers. For low level messages the unenciphered Gray and Brown codebooks were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tanks, tanks, tanks
1). I’m going to write something on the USM4 Sherman tankand whether it was a deathtrap or a war-winner (or somewhere in between).2). Wait what’s this? Another report on the Best tank of WWII, ehm I...
View ArticleIn the news
Debate on NSA surveillance with Glenn Greenwald, Alexis Ohanian, Michael Hayden and Alan DershowitzGlenn Greenwald: how the NSA tampers with US-made internet routersArticles from Anatoly Klepov on the...
View ArticleUpdate
I have uploaded TICOM report DF-116-J ‘The German intercept station in Madrid’ – 1948. Available from my Scribd and Google Docs accounts.
View ArticleClik here to view.
The German intercept stations in Spain
In the course of WWII the German signal intelligence agencies intercepted radio traffic from several fixed and mobile stations established throughout Europe. Some of these stations were located in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Codes of the European Economic Community
Hmmm, maybe it’s time to have a look at the finding aid just in case I see something interesting that I can copy. Ok, ‘Cryptographic codes and ciphers: European Economic Community EEC’ this should be...
View Article