COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1932–33 Polish mathematician Marian Rejewski deduced the wiring pattern inside the wheels of Enigma, assisted by Enigma operating manuals provided by the French secret service, to make a successful decryption machine.

Detailed explanation-2: -A handpicked group of Poland’s brightest mathematics students would spend a dozen hours each week unscrambling German ciphers. In 1932 three of them hit the jackpot: they broke the “unbreakable” Enigma code, laying the foundations for similar British feats during the Second World War.

Detailed explanation-3: -Similar machines were first made in the early 20th century, and the first ‘Enigma’ was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius in 1918, who sought to sell it for commercial, rather than military, purposes. Above: Enigma machine with four rotors.

Detailed explanation-4: -Earlier in the 1930s, when Polish intelligence heard encrypted German radio messages, the three were asked to look at cracking the code. They broke into Enigma but Polish authorities did not reveal their work to the British and French until July 1939 when things were getting more serious in Poland.

Detailed explanation-5: -But let’s not forget where Enigma codebreaking had its beginnings – Poland. This year marks 90 years since Marian Rejewski broke the Enigma code.