Click Here 159. Mic Drop: The NSA’s Cryptologic Museum - a spycatcher’s dream
Aug 23, 2024
Vince Houghton, the affable director of the National Cryptologic Museum, shares intriguing insights into the world of espionage and code-breaking. Discover the museum's hidden gems, including a World War II Enigma machine and President Obama’s old Blackberry. Houghton reveals tales of mysterious WWII crates that housed groundbreaking artifacts like the 'Russian Fish.' He also discusses the revolutionary Colossus computer and its legacy, illustrating how these cryptographic advancements have shaped today's technology. A truly fascinating tour of history!
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Discovering the Russian Fish
- Vince discovered a top secret NSA warehouse full of crates unopened for 50 years.
- The first crate revealed a large German machine used to intercept Soviet communications, later called the Russian Fish.
Colossus: First Programmable Computer
- The Lorenz cipher was more powerful than Enigma and required the Colossus computer to break it.
- Colossus was the first programmable computer with memory, paving the way for modern computing.
Colossus Destroyed for Secrecy
- After World War II, all Colossus machines were destroyed to keep their technology secret.
- They were smashed with axes and sledgehammers to prevent adversaries from learning the computing advances.