Breaking the code

The picture below is that of the Colossus codebreaking computer.  It was used during WWII to break the Nazi codes.  Put into service under British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the truck-sized machine is said to have shortened WWII by at least 18 months.  The Germans never realized that the allies had cracked their code, so they continued to use it for essential communications, including troop movements, and ammunition and supplies discussions.

After WWII, Churchill ordered the computer destroyed, fearing that Britain’s national security would be threatened if the machine’s secrets were known.  However, in 1994 a group banded together to piece Colossus back together, and this week, a rebuilt Colossus took part in a contest to decipher an encrypted radio message.

The WWII relic was no match for modern technology, however, as it was beaten by a home computer, and one from Germany, at that!   Software engineer Joachim Schueth, from Bonn Germany was able to decipher the message, encrypted by a Nazi-era Lorenz cipher machine and transmitted by radio from Paderborn, Germany. It took him about two hours on Thursday, Nov. 15th, using ham radio equipment and a computer program he wrote especially for the challenge.  

Schueth paid tribute to Colossus and those who used it during WWII, saying their work was important to Germans because “it helped to shorten the lifetime of the Nazi dictatorship.”

More info about Schueth is available on his webpage.