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Welcome to the companion Web site to "Decoding Nazi Secrets," a two-hour NOVA special that chronicles how the Allies succeeded in cracking the infamous German message-coding machine, the Enigma. The program was originally broadcast on November 9, 1999. Here's what you'll find online:
Jim Gillogly, who has been called "arguably the best non-government cryptanalyst in the U.S." in the field of classical (historical) cryptosystems, offers three World War II-style ciphers of different levels of difficulty for you to try to break. Send a Coded Message (Hot Science) Manipulate an online version of an Enigma-like machine to encode your own message, then e-mail that message to a friend with instructions on how to decode it using a secret key. A Simple Cipher (Hot Science) Learn some of the tricks codebreakers use to solve ciphers, then use your new talents to make sense of what looks like a bunch of gibberish. Are Web Transactions Safe? Secret codes are not just for spies; they protect your online credit-card purchases, for instance. This feature looks at all the ways encryption affects you, with a special emphasis on the Internet. Mind of a Codebreaker Led by Alan Turing, inventor of the computer, the codebreakers of Bletchley Park were a brilliant, quirky bunch who broke the Engima in large part by learning to think like the German codemakers themselves. How the Enigma Works The Enigma looks roughly like a typewriter, but it is infinitely more complex, with fully 17,576 ring settings for each of 60 possible wheel orders -- and that is just to set it up for use. Text Decoding Nazi Secrets Home | Crack the Ciphers | Send a Coded Message A Simple Cipher | Are Web Transactions Safe? | Mind of a Codebreaker How the Enigma Works | Resources | Teacher's Guide | Transcript | Site Map NOVA Online | Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print
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