What my readers wrote to me
An encrypted postcard, Alan Turing, the Enigma and a letter encryption technique are today’s topics. The hints came from my readers.
Once again, an encrypted postcard was presented on Reddit:
Quelle/Source: Reddit
The recipient was (as is usually the case) an unmarried woman. She lived in Burlington in the US state of New Jersey.
If you feel like it, you can try to crack the encryption. But it is also easier: In the linked Reddit post the solution is already given.
Thankfully, blog reader Sebastian brought this postcard to my attention. I have also received interesting tips from several other readers recently. Below is a selection.
Alan Turing’s formula
Tobias Schrödel is certainly known to readers of this blog as a comedy hacker. Tobias drew my attention to an interesting article about Alan Turing. Not only did he crack the Enigma during World War II, but apparently he also found a formula that is still useful today. At least that’s what the web portal “T-Online” reports.
Quelle/Source: Wikimedia Commons
Turing’s formula is said to have succeeded in counting the number of tree species in the world. There are said to be 73,300 different ones – 14 percent more than previously assumed. Turing’s formula calculated this from the information known so far and included previously unknown tree species.
Enigma game
Also from Tobias Schrödel, I learned that the Enigma plays a role in a new virtual reality computer game called “Wanderer.”
Quelle/Source: M-Theory
The name of the game is a bit confusing, because there was once a company called Wanderer that produced encryption machines during World War II. The Enigma, however, was not one of them. The name of the game, however, has nothing to do with the company.
If any reader has played this game before, I would be glad about one or the other comment. It would also be interesting to know what the encoded text on the picture means.
Letters with spiral lock
Encrypting (cryptography) and hiding (steganography) are not the only ways to protect a message from fellow readers. George Lasry pointed me to an article describing another technique for this purpose. Already Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart are said to have used it: Spiral locks.
This technique involves folding a letter in a certain way and then binding it with wire. It is not difficult to open such a letter, but it is almost impossible not to leave any traces. The spiral lock is thus an alternative to an envelope. But while the black chambers of the early modern era were able to open envelopes inconspicuously, they may have had considerably more trouble with the spiral locks.
Apparently, the spiral lock technique was certainly used in practice. Unfortunately, I do not know how widespread it was and whether it served its purpose.
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Further reading: Ein einzigartiger kryptologischer Schatz: Die 44 verschlüsselten Postkarten eines Musikers
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