Browse Items (14 total)

The M-209 was a cipher machine invented by Boris Hagelin or AB Cryptoteknik at the beginning of WWII. As a pin-and-lug cipher machine, it did not require electricity. During the war, German cryptanalysts called the machine "AM-1" for "American…

The M-94 was a cipher device based off the polyalphabetic manual substitution cipher. It was created by US Army major Joseph Mauborgne in 1917 with inspiration from a similar device invented by Thomas Jefferson in 1795. In 1921, it was introduced to…

SIGABA was an electro-mechanical cipher machine created in the late 1930s by the US Army and Navy. It was considered an impressive cryptomachine in that time period to the degree that it was used throughout WWII and into the 1950s.

By the end of…

NESTOR is the NSA-developed speech encryption used by American forces during the Vietnamese War. The encryption was compatible between several devices, including the KY-38 manpack unit, KY-8 vehicular unit, and KY-28 aircraft unit.

The T-52 G-Schreiber was developed around 1930 by Siemens & Halske. It was used by the Germans in WWII in conjunction with the Enigma and Lorenz. Intercepting messages that were in-depth enough to decipher was difficult for Allied codebreakers…

The TypeX was an electromechanical cipher machine used by the British during WWII. It was devloped by Wing Commander O.G.W. Lywood, with the first production batch delivered to the RAF in 1937. As a British variant of the Enigma, versions of it came…

The scytale is known as the first cryptographic device, used in 400 B.C. by the Spartans. It consisted of a baton and a papyrus strips with letters. These papyrus strips would only reveal the message sent between Spartan generals if the baton they…

The Lorenz cipher machine was developed by Lorenz and used in WWII by the German Army High Command. Hilter used it to communicate with his generals. This cipher machine was dubbed "TUNNY" by British codebreakers at Bletchly Park. In August 1941, Bill…

Fialka was known as a more complex version of the Enigma, created by Russian military for communicating within the Soviet Union and Warsaw pact in the 1960s- early 1970s. Compared to the Enigma's three rotors, Fialka had ten rotors- giving way to…

PURPLE was a Japanese cipher machine used during WWII and based off the Enigma's rotor technology. While it was developed in 1937 with four rotors (compared to the Enigma's three), it was broken only a few years later in 1940 without being seen by…