Trading machine

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The "trading machine" (1923) was the first in a long series of Enigma machines

The trading machine is the first model of the Enigma rotor key machine .

history

In the long history of the different Enigma models , the so-called "trading machine " introduced in 1923 was the first (see also: Enigma family tree under web links ). After the invention of the machine by Arthur Scherbius and his first patent application for it on February 23, 1918, the Enigma was developed by the Scherbius & Ritter company in Berlin-Wannsee . Shortly afterwards, the production of the first model began at the Securitas union , also in Berlin ( W 35 , Steglitzer Str. 2, today Pohlstrasse , Tiergarten ). On July 9, 1923, the Securitas union became the Chiffriermaschinen-Aktiengesellschaft (ChiMaAG).

The trading machine was a comparatively voluminous and heavy machine. Their dimensions (L × W × H) are around 65 cm × 45 cm × 38 cm and weigh around 50 kg. In contrast to the later "incandescent lamp cipher machines", it was the first of the "writing Enigma cipher machines". It was commercially available for purchase at trade fairs such as in 1923 in Leipzig and Bern and in 1924 at the International Postal Congress of the Universal Postal Union in Stockholm .

According to the patent applications of September 26, 1920 (No. 425147) by Scherbius and March 26, 1924 (No. 429122) of his colleague Paul Bernstein (see also: Enigma patents ), the trading machine had four cipher rollers and an additional four toothed drive rollers with gaps which caused the encryption rollers to switch irregularly, with the following configuration:

  • 11 positions 5 teeth and 6 spaces
  • 15 positions, 9 teeth and 6 spaces
  • 17 positions, 11 teeth and 6 spaces
  • 19 positions, 11 teeth and 8 spaces

This gives a period of 11 · 15 · 17 · 19 = 53,295. Compared with the 26 4 or 456,976 possible positions of the four cipher rollers, Friedrich L. Bauer calls it “almost a progressive cipher”. This was a cryptographic strength of the trading machine that later models (from Enigma-A ) were missing.

literature

  • Friedrich L. Bauer : Deciphered Secrets. Methods and maxims of cryptology. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Springer, Berlin et al. 2000, ISBN 3-540-67931-6 .
  • Friedrich L. Bauer: Historical Notes on Computer Science . Springer, Berlin 2009, ISBN 3-540-85789-3 .
  • Louis Kruh, Cipher Deavours: The commercial Enigma - Beginnings of machine cryptography . PDF; 800 kB In: Cryptologia , Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 26.2002,1 (January), ISSN  0161-1194 ; accessed March 4, 2016
  • Arthur Scherbius: "Enigma" cipher machine . PDF; 1 MB In: Elektrotechnische Zeitschrift , November 1923, pp. 1035-1036; accessed February 21, 2019.
  • Heinz Ulbricht: The Enigma cipher machine - deceptive security . A contribution to the history of the intelligence services. PDF; 4.7 MB dissertation, Braunschweig 2005.
  • Anders Wik: The First Classical Enigmas - Swedish Views on Enigma Development 1924–1930. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Historical Cryptology, PDF; 12.5 MB 2018, pp. 83-88.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Patent specification for encryption apparatus DRP No. 416 219. (PDF; 400 kB) accessed March 4, 2016.
  2. ↑ Louis Kruh, Cipher Deavours: The commercial Enigma - Beginnings of machine cryptography . (PDF; 800 kB) In: Cryptologia , Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 26.2002,1 (January), p. 1. ISSN  0161-1194 ; accessed March 4, 2016
  3. ↑ Louis Kruh, Cipher Deavours: The commercial Enigma - Beginnings of machine cryptography . (PDF; 800 kB) In: Cryptologia , Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 26.2002,1 (January), p. 4. ISSN  0161-1194 ; accessed March 4, 2016
  4. ↑ Louis Kruh, Cipher Deavours: The commercial Enigma - Beginnings of machine cryptography . (PDF; 800 kB) In: Cryptologia , Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia PA 26.2002,1 (January), p. 5. ISSN  0161-1194 ; accessed March 4, 2016
  5. ↑ Friedrich L. Bauer: Deciphered secrets. Methods and maxims of cryptology. 3rd, revised and expanded edition. Springer, Berlin et al. 2000, p. 140.