Row slide

The Reihenschieber was developed in 1957 by the Central Office for Encryption in Bonn in cooperation with the Federal Intelligence Service in Mehlem and the telecommunications service of the Bundeswehr . This was to meet the urgent need of the Bundeswehr, founded in 1956, for a new encryption method. Germany it was after the Second World War was prohibited from developing their own encryption systems, so they had the systems C-52 and 57 CD of Hagelin use. The system should generate series of numbers that correspond to theEncryption and decryption of messages were used.

In terms of the construction principle, it lies between Vigenère encryption and one-time pad . The sender and recipient of the message require identical row sliders with identical settings. The device, which looked like a slide rule, used 26 square rods with numbers on all four sides, 10 of which were inserted. Depending on the order in which the sticks were inserted and with which side up and how far, different combinations resulted. The digits determined in this way were read off using a template and used as encryption digits for the one-time pad. With frequent staff changes, the procedure was still rated as safe in 2008.

The row slider was taken out of service in the early 1960s because the manual coding and decoding of the message was very time-consuming. The information was released in 1992, after the usual 30-year lock-up period . The ZCO (Central Cipher Organ of the GDR) was informed about the procedure as early as 1960. However, the GDR only knew that the procedure was used in “secondary cipher traffic, that is, traffic in which the messages transmitted are no longer of such fundamental importance that their secrecy must be guaranteed for a longer period” “in certain Bundeswehr connections”. The simple hand-held key device "for which there is no parallel elsewhere" has been replaced by Rudolf Hell's H-54 key device .

literature

Michael van der Meulen: row pusher . In: Cryptologia . tape 20 , no. 2 , April 1996, p. 141-154 , doi : 10.1080 / 0161-119691884852 .

Web links

Row slider on Kryptologicum from the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science (ITI), working group Cryptography and Security
quadibloc.com: In-line valve (exact principle)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Crypto Machines: Row pusher
^ Klaus Schmeh: Code breakers versus code makers. The fascinating story of encryption. Herdecke, Witten: W3L, 2nd edition, 2008, p. 400.
↑ Klaus Schmeh : The failed pocket generator on scienceblogs.de
↑ ^a ^b Klaus Schmeh: Code breakers against code makers. The fascinating story of encryption. Herdecke, Witten: W3L, 2nd edition, 2008, p. 255.
^ The SAS and Encryption Service (SCD): Assessment of the situation by the ZCO 1960 BStU * 27

[ca-1] Crypto Machines: Row pusher

[2] Klaus Schmeh: Code breakers versus code makers. The fascinating story of encryption. Herdecke, Witten: W3L, 2nd edition, 2008, p. 400.

[Schmeh_Blog-3] Klaus Schmeh : The failed pocket generator on scienceblogs.de

[Schmeh_255-4] Klaus Schmeh: Code breakers against code makers. The fascinating story of encryption. Herdecke, Witten: W3L, 2nd edition, 2008, p. 255.

[5] The SAS and Encryption Service (SCD): Assessment of the situation by the ZCO 1960 BStU * 27