Colossus
-Lorenz cipher (Tunny) = other device (teleprinter) German’s used to send out code
-Used by Nazis to communicate with Army Group commanders in Europe
-How it worked
-More technologically advanced than Enigma
-Encoded a stream of pulses produced by teleprinter or decoded messages before they were printed
-German operator would send out message normally
-Receiving end had text printed out by another teleprinter
-Transmitted coded text not seen by German operators
-Pulses and non-pulses were recorded using x’s and dots
-Pattern of x’s and dots represented each letter of the alphabet
-Pattern of pulses changed monthly, then daily as allies got on to Germans
-Brits needed a machine to decipher messages quicker than other code breaking machines and to be working all the time to keep up with German operators
-January 1942 - First Tunny message intercepted by Brits
-Brits had never seen Tunny before
-Made possible because German operator made a mistake
-Allowed a British cryptanalyst to work out structure of Lorenz by analyzing its key stream (stream of characters combined with original message to produce encoded message)
-Computer called Colossus used to work out ‘Tunny’ settings
-Invented by Thomas Flowers
-First Colossus made operational in 1943
-First electronic digital computer of its time -- represented progress in technology
-More technologically complex than ‘Tunny’ and other code breaking machines
-Could decode message as quickly as it was received
-Purpose was to figure out Tunny’s settings and NOT decypher the actual codes
-Used many electronic valves to control making and breaking of telephone connections
-Decoded radio teleprinter messages by using vacuum tubes to read coded text from a paper tape
-Type of circuitry and functionality used to construct Colossus are used in computers today
-After the war most Colossus computers and their blueprints were destroyed to keep the code-breaking operation secret
-Used by Nazis to communicate with Army Group commanders in Europe
-How it worked
-More technologically advanced than Enigma
-Encoded a stream of pulses produced by teleprinter or decoded messages before they were printed
-German operator would send out message normally
-Receiving end had text printed out by another teleprinter
-Transmitted coded text not seen by German operators
-Pulses and non-pulses were recorded using x’s and dots
-Pattern of x’s and dots represented each letter of the alphabet
-Pattern of pulses changed monthly, then daily as allies got on to Germans
-Brits needed a machine to decipher messages quicker than other code breaking machines and to be working all the time to keep up with German operators
-January 1942 - First Tunny message intercepted by Brits
-Brits had never seen Tunny before
-Made possible because German operator made a mistake
-Allowed a British cryptanalyst to work out structure of Lorenz by analyzing its key stream (stream of characters combined with original message to produce encoded message)
-Computer called Colossus used to work out ‘Tunny’ settings
-Invented by Thomas Flowers
-First Colossus made operational in 1943
-First electronic digital computer of its time -- represented progress in technology
-More technologically complex than ‘Tunny’ and other code breaking machines
-Could decode message as quickly as it was received
-Purpose was to figure out Tunny’s settings and NOT decypher the actual codes
-Used many electronic valves to control making and breaking of telephone connections
-Decoded radio teleprinter messages by using vacuum tubes to read coded text from a paper tape
-Type of circuitry and functionality used to construct Colossus are used in computers today
-After the war most Colossus computers and their blueprints were destroyed to keep the code-breaking operation secret