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This page contains some of our preview news clippings.
Please note that the information below has been written some time ago
and my have lost its relevance by now. The information is retained here
for historical reasons only.
 Click here for the latest news
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HC-9 Simulator for Windows
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7 December 2012
Our Russian friend Vyacheslav Chernov (Чернов) has just released
a fully functional graphical simulator of a
Transvertex HC-9 cipher machine.
The program implements all settings and movements, and contains an
editor for the alphabet ruler and the punched cards.
It is written for Windows TM can can be downloaded
as a RAR-file from our HC-9 page.
More information
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Russian Arctic Convoy Museum
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6 December 2012
When we think about the Atlantic War
and the Battle of the Atlantic,
the first things that come to mind are the supply convoys from the
United States to Great Britain, and the enormous losses of ships,
men and cargo, caused by German U-Boats organized in the so-called Wolfpacks.
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It is often forgotten however, that this was not the only route
for supply of military equipment. The Russians, who had to fight the
Germans in the east, received about a quarter of their (military)
supplies via the Artic Convoy route.
The Artic Convoy Route ran from ports in the west of Scotland,
via the Baltic Sea, to Russian cities such as Molotovsk and Stalingrad.
Being heavily attacked by German U-Boats,
more than 3000 British men lost their lives in this stride.
As it is important that this legacy is not forgotten, an initiative
for a new museum was launched in 2011. In May 2012, a special WWII
week was held, in order to bring the initiative to the public's attention.
During that week, Enigma historian Dr. Mark Baldwin held several
lectures on Enigma,
complete with live demonstrations.
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Several funds have
been raised so far, and the organizers hope to be able to open up a
real museum at Loch Ewe in the next couple of years.
If you want to know more, follow the link below
and read the personal stories from the men that survived,
or sign up for their newsletter.
The Russian Arctic Convoy Museum Project
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2 December 2012
French crypto collector Jean-François Bouchaudy has just published a
a Crypto Challenge on his website. It involves the
Hagelin C-446, but is also
applicable to the famous wartime M-209.
The challenge consists of 12 problems, one of which will be published
each day in December.
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To take part in the challenge, you need to
register free of charge. Furthermore, you need to have access to
a C-446 Simulator or a real C-446 or M-209 machine. A free C-446
Simulator is available on Jean-François' website.
A realistic M-209 Simulator
can be downloaded here.
A good description of the cryptanalysis of the Hagelin C-446 and the M-209
(in Dutch) can be
downloaded here.
Challenge M-209
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Parts of Scryption collection for sale
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28 October 2012
Last year we had to announce that Scryption, the museum for written
communication, was forced to close its doors after financial cuts of
the Tilburg city council. The staff was dismissed and the collection was
returned to the original owners (Fraters van Tilburg), where it was
put in storage.
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As the original owners have neither the man-power nor the knowledge
to handle the objects properly, the collection has now been carried over
to Stichting Onterfd Goed, a non-profit organization that will
dismantle the collection in the best possible way with help from the
public.
The former Scryption collection is now fully registered in a brand
new online database that can be accessed by the public.
A nice selection of objects will remain available for future projects,
and some parts will be sold to other museums, as sub-collections
whenever possible.
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The majority of objects will have to go however, and is now available
for sale. Stichting Onterfd Goed has set up a nice shop in the
former food factory of De Gruyter in 's-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands)
where you can watch and buy these beautiful historical masterpieces
every day between 10:00 and 17:00. In the shop is and excellent
collection of typwriters, computers, pens, dictation machines, printing
machines and much much more, waiting for new foster parent.
If you buy an item from the former Scryption collection, you officially
adopt the object and will be responsible for its future.
The revenue from selling these objects will be used to maintain the
remaining basic collection and support future projects.
Stichting Onterfd Goed expects to need
one full year for dismantling the Scryption collection, after
which the shop will be closed again. So, don't waste your time and
help saving the future of these historical objects. Now.
Website Stichting Onterfd Goed
Direct access to the Scryption collection database
YouTube interview with Stichting Onterfd Goed (Dutch)
Museum Scryption on Wikipedia
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21 October 2012
Michael Hörnberg (Germany) has just informed us that he has managed
to decode an Enigma M4 message of historical importance.
The message was sent by U-boat Admiral Döntiz on 1 May 1945,
announcing his appointment as Hitler's successor, just a day after
Hitler's suicide.
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The message was recovered from a message sheet that was found
in German submarine U-534
when it was brought to the surface in 1993.
In July 2012, Michael lauched a massive code breaking operation using
distributed computing power. The current message was broken again on 20 October
2012.
Read the full text
More about U-534
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Dutch Signals Museum to reopen
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16 October 2012
In June 2009, the Dutch Signals Museum (Museum Verbindingsdienst)
was forced to close its doors, after the army base on which is was
located, had been given up by the department of defence.
For a long time, the future of the museum was uncertain due to
cost savings.
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Last month however, the museum was able to announce the good news
that a new building has been assigned to them. Although Building C at
the military base in Amersfoort is smaller than the previous location,
it is believed that it will allow them to show in the history of the
Dutch Signals Corps in a contemporary manner.
Building C in Amersfoort will be available from 1 January 2013, but
it will take the volunteers several months to setup a new exhibition.
A new opening date has not yet been announced, but we will keep
an keen eye on their website.
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Crypto Museum would like to congratulate the volunteers of Museum
Verbindingsdienst with their new location. We hope to continue the
good relationship with the museum from the point where we left off
in 2009. The image above shows the museum's 3-wheel
Enigma machine.
More information
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Enigma M4 messages broken
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10 August 2012
Great news from Michael Hörenberg in Germany: after 70 years he has
managed to break some Enigma messages from German U-Boot U-534.
The first break was done on 31 July 2012, using distributed computing
with no less than 112 CPU cores! After discovering the daily key for 1
May 1945, the first message was broken with a ciphertext only attack.
CONGRATULATIONS!
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So far, he has already broken 12 messages, which can be found on
his website,
including scans of the original German message sheets
that were recovered from the U-534.
The messages were all encrypted on the
Enigma M4.
Michael is currently looking for people with in-depth knownledge of the
German U-Boats and the specific German Navy language.
Breaking German Navy Ciphers
About the Naval Enigma M4
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Enigma H-221 rediscovered
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8 August 2012
On 1 August 2012, Crypto Museum was invited at the Museum for
Military History in Budapest (Hungary) where we rediscovered
an extremely rare Enigma-variant: a printing Enigma Model H29
with serial number H-221.
The machine had been on public display in the past, but has
since been locked away in the Hungarian archives.
Until now that is...
Full review
Enigma-H
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New Enigma-E kits for Bletchley
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2 May 2012
Two months ago we received three crypto devices as a generous gift
from the Italian manufacturer Telsy.
Last week the Turin-based company donated another two devices: a
TDS-2004 (1981)
and a modern Cryptophone 7000 (1990).
Both are now on the website.
We should like to thank Telsy once more for their continuing support
of Crypto Museum.
About Telsy
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Breaking news: FS-5000 DSU uncovered!
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18 April 2012
The FS-5000 (codename HARPOON) was the last spy radio system used by
the stay-behind networks in Europe, commonly known as Gladio.
It was used by NATO countries as well as non-NATO countries (e.g.
Switzerland). The set was introduced around 1990, right before most
countries were force to shut-down their 'Gladio' operation in 1991
and 1992.
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In 2005 a small number of FS-5000 sets appeared on the surplus market.
Unfortunately however, the so-called Digital Storage Unit (DSU) was missing.
The DSU controls the other modules and contains a high-end
cryptographic module, which is probably the main reason why they
were destroyed at the time.
We are pleased to announce the fact that we now have a complete and
functional FS-5000 spy set with the DSU.
Take a look inside.
More information
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Two Dutch teams in codebreakers finals
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12 April 2012
In December of last year, the Polish province of Wielkopolska
lauched a codebreaking challenge at the special website
CODEBREAKERS.EU (see Break de Code, below).
The event is organised by the Marshal Office of Wielkopolska
and 128 teams from 23 countries have entered the contest.
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We are pleased to announce that two Dutch teams have made it to the finals.
They are invited to come to Poznan (Poland) next week and take it up against
a team of Polish students.
One of the Dutch teams is a group of geocaching enthusiasts working at
ASML in Veldhoven (NL).
As Veldhoven is not too far from Eindhoven, the Dutch ASML-team
visited Crypto Museum today.
From left to right are John, Rien and Jan-Gerard sitting around a war-time
German Army Enigma machine.
The Enigma and its history played
an important part during the crypto challenge.
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Next week, John Besselink, Rien Bijl and Jan-Gerard van der Toorn
will be the guest of the Marshal of Wielkopolska (President of the Region),
mr. Marek Wozniak, and the head of The Office for War Veterans and
Victims of Oppression, Minister Jan S. Ciechanowski.
They will defend the honour of Noord Brabant, the Dutch provice
that is twinned with Wielkopolska.
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The other Dutch team is from the south-west part of the country and is shown
in the image on the right (click for a closer look).
They too are hard-core geocachers.
The team consists of Gerrit van Woerkom (left),
Hans Nelisse (top right) and Arjen Beenhakker (bottom right).
They are from Oudemolen (NB), Dinteloord (NB) and Woudbrugge (ZH).
The final rounds of the game will take up two days and hopefully there will be
some time left to do site-seeing in the Poznan area. There must be many
interesting historical sites to visit there.
Crypto Museum wishes all teams the best of luck.
Fingers crossed for the Dutch teams, of course.
You may follow the progress on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/codebreakerseu
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26 February 2012
Because of the importance of his work as a codebreaker, computer pioneer
and openly gay man, 2012 has been proclaimed The Alan Turing Year. To
celebrate the 100th birthday of this remarkable person, numerous events
will be organized all over the world.
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On Monday 16 April 2012, the Radboud University of Nijmegen
(Netherlands) has organized a Masterclass Turing for pre-acedemic
students. Crypto Museum will be present at this event with a range
of historical Enigma machines.
Crypto Museum staff will be available on-site for hands-on
demonstrations and a 1-hour talk about Enigma and code-breaking
during WWII.
More information
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© Copyright 2009-2013, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Monday, 27 January 2014 - 09:30 CET
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