Prompt Cast
The Enigma Code: How Allies Cracked the Unbreakable German Encryption
TLDR During World War II, the Allies were able to crack the supposedly unbreakable German Enigma Code with the help of code breakers, a computing machine, and German mistakes. This breakthrough shortened the war by two years, saved over 14 million lives, and laid the foundations for modern computing and cryptography.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
During World War II, the Allies were eventually able to crack the supposedly unbreakable German Enigma Code with the help of code breakers, a computing machine, and German mistakes.
02:19
The Enigma machine, developed in 1918 by Arthur Scherbius, was a clever encryption device that used letter substitution and changed the substitution after every letter, making it difficult to crack.
04:19
An Enigma machine was a small cash register-sized device with a keyboard, rotors, and a plug board that could create almost 159 quintillion possible settings for encryption, making it extremely difficult to decrypt.
06:21
The Germans used enigma machines with different rotors and settings for encryption, and the Polish Cypher Bureau made significant progress in understanding the flaws in the system, including the use of a single setting for all messages and a six-letter indicator at the top of every message.
08:24
The Polish Cypher Bureau shared their advancements in cryptography with Britain and France before the German invasion, and the work of cracking the enigma code now fell to Alan Turing and his team at Bletchley Park.
10:23
The enigma code was cracked by finding a shortcut using the phrase "Heil Hitler" and an artificial intelligence program was able to crack the code in 12 minutes and 50 seconds using modern computers.
12:27
Cracking the enigma code was one of the most important strategic breakthroughs of the Second World War, potentially shortening the war by two years and saving over 14 million lives, while also laying the foundations for modern computing and cryptography.
