Everything Everywhere Daily Cracking the Enigma Code (Encore)
Nov 9, 2025
Explore the fascinating story behind the Enigma machine, once believed to be unbreakable. Discover how brilliant minds, like Alan Turing, used innovative machines and strategies to crack the code, revealing the crucial role of intelligence in WWII. Learn about the early Polish breakthroughs and the significance of exploiting predictable phrases. Today, remnants of this historic encryption challenge survive in museums, and advancements in AI have rekindled interest in codebreaking. The impact of deciphering Enigma continues to shape modern computing and intelligence.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Radio Changed Cryptography's Game
- Radio broadcasts forced militaries to use robust encryption beyond physical documents.
- One-time pads are unbreakable but impractical for wide, distributed use.
Dynamic Substitution Made Enigma Powerful
- Enigma used shifting letter substitution to change the cipher after every keystroke.
- That rotor-driven change made Enigma far stronger than static substitution ciphers.
Enigma Was A Mechanical-Electrical Wonder
- The Enigma machine combined rotors, a keyboard, lights, and sometimes a plug board into a compact device.
- Every keypress rotated rotors, creating a new substitution and lighting the encrypted letter.