ITinfo: Codebreaking, a Day Late and a Dollar Short

$15,000 Goes To Swedes

Too late to compete

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Codebreaking, a Day Late and a Dollar Short

by Dave Murphy
ISSN 1535-3613

After lunch today I treated myself to a trip through my neighborhood bookstore. As luck would have it, a book I'd been eyeing for more than a year was just released in paperback. I snapped it up.

The Code Book by Simon Singh is a history of cryptography (the making of codes and ciphers) and cryptology (the opposite function). I've got an introductory understanding of data security, and it's played a significant role in my being able to successfully build a virtual (locationally-irrelevant) business without putting our data at risk of eavesdroppers.

In any regard, I was flipping excitedly though the book when I got to the office, and in the end material is a 10-part challenge with a prize of $15,000 to the first person who successfully solves 10 progressively more difficult ciphers. At first glance, I figured I could take the first couple without a pencil -- then they started to look more interesting. I walked over to my desk to do a bit of research on the subject, and that's when I read the incoming news report.

A team of Swedish computer buffs using the equivalent of 70 years of computer time correctly deciphered all 10 ciphers. The ciphers ranged from ciphers dating back to ancient Greece through Victorian codes and codes produced with the famed Nazi Enigma code machine from World War II.

Author Singh had thought no one would solve the 10th level code -- it was a 512 bit code. But the old saw of persistence wins out every time must be true, even if it takes the equivalent of 70 years to win.

Congratulations to the Swedish team. I'm happy for you. And I'm happy for me; now I can read the book without feeling compelled to work on the cipher challenge.

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References

The Cipher Challenge
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updated October 12, 2000
http://dgl.com/itinfo/2000/it001012a.html