When was the Enigma machine patented by Arthur Scherbius?
Arthur Scherbius filed a patent for the Enigma machine on the 23rd of February 1918. This patent described a ciphering machine that used rotating disks to scramble letters.
Questions about Enigma machine
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who broke the Enigma machine code before World War II?
Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski broke the Enigma code in December 1932 using the theory of permutations. He was assisted by Jerzy Różycki and Henryk Zygalski, and the breakthrough relied on cipher materials obtained from Hans-Thilo Schmidt.
What is the double-stepping flaw in the Enigma machine?
The double-stepping flaw caused rotor two to move again on the subsequent keystroke if the ratchet of rotor three was engaged. This mechanical quirk reduced the machine's period to 16,900 and created predictable patterns that cryptanalysts exploited.
When did the German Navy introduce the four-rotor M4 Enigma machine?
The German Navy introduced the M4 Enigma machine on the 1st of February 1942 for U-boat traffic. This model included an extra rotor known as Beta or Gamma that never stepped but could be manually set to any of 26 positions.
Where are Enigma machines currently displayed?
Enigma machines are displayed in museums such as the Deutsches Museum in Munich, the Deutsches Spionagemuseum in Berlin, and the National Codes Centre at Bletchley Park. Other locations include the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw and the Swedish Army Museum in Stockholm.
How many different settings did the military Enigma machine have?
The military Enigma machine had 158,962,555,217,826,360,000 different settings. This number represents nearly 159 quintillion possibilities derived from choosing three rotors from five, setting 26 positions, and connecting ten pairs of letters on the plugboard.