Honors 131 - Cryptology and Number Theory, Fall 2008

Syllabus
Topics

CodeHelp Updated 26 September (Needs Java to run. Make sure you have the latest version of Java.)

• Ciphertexts
  • ciphertext 1
  • ciphertext 2
  • ciphertext 3
  • ciphertext 4
  • ciphertext 5
  • ciphertext 6
  • ciphertext 7
  • ciphertext 8
  • ciphertext 9
  • ciphertext 10
  • ciphertext 11
  • ciphertext 12
  • ciphertext 13
  • ciphertext 14a
  • ciphertext 14b
  • ciphertext 14c
  • ciphertext 15
  • ciphertext 16
  • ciphertext 17
  • ciphertext 18
  • ciphertext 19
  • ciphertext 20
  • ciphertext 21
  • ciphertext 22
  • Sample ciphertexts from past tests
    • test cipher 1
    • test cipher 2
    • test cipher 3
    • test cipher 4
    • test cipher 5
    • test cipher 6
    • test cipher 7
    • test cipher 8
    • test cipher 9
    • test cipher 10
• Homework assignments
  • Homework 1, due: Friday, 12 September.
  • Homework 2, due: Wednesday, 17 September.
  • Homework 3, due: Wednesday, 24 September.
  • Homework 4, due: Wednesday, 1 October
  • Homework 5, due: Monday, 13 October
  • Homework 6, due: Monday, 3 November.
  • Homework 7, due: Wednesday, 12 November.
  • Homework 8, due: Monday, 17 November.
• Class Handouts
  • Playfair and ADFGVX ciphers
• Tests
  • Test 1:
    • In-class
    • Practical
      Cipher texts for practical
      • test 1
      • test 2
      • test 3
      • test 4
      • test 5
      • test 6
      • test 7
      • test 8
      • test 9
      • test 10
  • Test 2:
  • Final Exam:
• Paper assignment and topic suggestions.

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  • The Gold-Bug by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843. Do a Google search. The link to google books is a nice photocopy of an old addition. Download it or another version.
  • The Adventure of the Dancing Men by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903
  • Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon by Jules Verne, 1881. Follow same procedure as for The Gold-Bug. You might find the Project Gutenberg version better to download. Longer than the previous two stories.
  • The NSA Museum
  • Bletchley Park
  • M94 simulator by William Plotz. See also his web page on the the M94. Picture 1 of the M-94 (CSP-488). Picture 2
  • Enigma stuff
    • Tony Sale's Enigma site
    • A paper version of Enigma, by Michael Koss.
    • Rodding Square for railway enigma rotor I.
    • Rodding Square for army enigma rotor I.
    • Work grid for the above rodding squares.
    • Pringle can Enigma cutouts, with instructions. This idea seems to originate with the people doing the National Cipher Challenge in the UK, but the templates are no longer available. I made up my own here.
    • Some nice Enigma pictures
    • More nice Enigma pictures
    • A bunch of Enigma simulators
    • An mp3 file with the sounds of the Turing Bombe from the Bletchley Park rebuild. Imagine being in a room full of these.
  • M-209
    • A nice picture of the M-209.
    • You can download the training film for the M-209. This is effective as a sleep inducer. It runs a tad over 30 minutes.
  • Books, Movies, and Journals

    General Books and Journals

    The Codebreakers by David Kahn

    The bible of cryptology history. Very long but the last word on most things cryptologic up to about 1960.

    Cryptologia

    A journal with articles of mixed quality on history and methods. Some interesting personal views from those who did it. This is the Denison library link that gives you full text access. Get started some night and you'll spend hours.

    The Code Book by Simon Singh

    A very well written book for the general public. The technical parts are clearly explained. A good read and it has a cipher-breaking challenge in the back!

    Books on Enigma and World War II

    Enigma: The Battle for the Code by Hugh Sebag-Matefiore

    A very good book describing the breaking of Enigma from the Poles through the American Bombes. My choice for the first book to read on this topic.

    The Hut Six Story by Gordan Welchman

    The second book you should read on Enigma, written by one who played a very important role in its breaking. You can safely skip the last part where he goes on about the important lessons of secure communications, etc. Gives sufficient technical information to understand how it was done.

    Seizing the Enigma by David Kahn

    An account of the efforts of Polish, British and American intelligence in cracking the Enigma codes before and during World War Two. Another good choice for an introduction into Enigma history.

    The Ultra Secret by F.W. Winterbotham

    First published in 1974, it was the first book to document that the British were reading Enigma. Written by one who oversaw the distribution of intelligence gleaned from Enigma (called Ultra), this book shows the value of this intelligence in various campaigns of WW II. There is almost no technical information about how this intelligence was obtained, but that wasn't the purpose of the book. When published this caused quite a storm from some, both Germans, who didn't believe it, and British, who thought Winterbotham betrayed a promise of secrecy (even after almost 30 years).

    Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park by Alan Stripp and Francis Hinsley

    A collection of personal recollections of those who worked in Bletchley Park before and during World War Two. This offers interesting insights in the day-to-day workings.

    Enigma by Robert Harris (made into a movie)

    A work of fiction based at Bletchley Park during WW II. It has been made in to a movie. A fun read if you already know something about Enigma. This is a work of fiction, remember, a fact that was lost on the Polish government at the time the movie (see below) was released, who protested the bad light the villian was cast.

    The Secret of Building 26 by Jim DeBrosse and Colin Burke

    The story of the building of the American Bombes at NCR in Dayton. A little dry (well, more than a little) but the most complete story in existence. I doubt this one will ever be made into a movie.

    Hijacking Enigma by Christine Large

    A rare version of an Enigma was stolen from Bletchley Park in 2000. This is the story of its recovery as told by the Park's director. When she sticks to relating the facts, it's a good read. But when she strays to her personnal experiences and trials, the prose is truly dreadful. This book is interesting but somehow unsatisfying.

    Movies relating to Enigma and World War II

    Enigma

    This movie (based on the above book) does a good job of giving some of the feel of Bletchley Park. Unfortunately (but not critical), the exterior shots of Bletchley are not of Bletchley but of some other much more attractive estate. (I don't know why this was done.) As a bonus, real Enigma messages are used to break into the naval Enigma, and the breaking process shown is authentic. I have a copy of this for you to watch.

    U-571

    A truly terrible movie, in my humble opinion. A work of fiction, of course, but it tells the story of the capture of an Enigma from a U-boat by an Amercian ship based on true events when a British crew actually captured an Enigma. Furthermore, U-571 wasn't even the name of the U-boat or any U-boats where Enigmas were captured. (U-571 was sunk in 1944 and had nothing to do with pilfering an Enigma.) It would have been just as easy to stick closely to the facts. It does give some flavor as to use and importance of the Enigma, however.

    Das Boot

    A terrific 1981 movie about life on a U-boat. (Not for the claustrophobic.) There are scenes with Enigma being used.

    More Technical Books

    Decrypted Secrets by F. L. Bauer

    A very good book showing many technical aspects of a wide spectrum of encryption methods.

    Computer Security and Cryptology by Neal Koblitz

    A serious book with serious mathematics required for modern cryptology.

    Elementary Cryptanalysis by Abraham Sinkov, updated in 2008 by Todd Feil

    The main text for this course. Originally published in 1966, this gives the basic techniques used to break paper-and-pencil codes. The ideas are relatively elementary but not watered down. By a pioneering American cryptographer. I've updated this for the MAA, adding a chapter on RSA and one on one-time pads. It is due out next year.

    Cryptological Mathematics by Robert Lewand

    Covers much of the same as the previous book and at a similar level, but here the focus is more mathematical. This book is also more up-to-date.