Re: Enigma machine strenght using a computer


Unruh wrote:
"=?iso-8859-1?q?Jean-Fran=E7ois_Michaud?=" <cometaj@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:


David Eather wrote:
Jean-Fran=E7ois Michaud wrote:
Hello,

I was wondering what kind of encryption strenght we were looking at for
an enigma machine with say 512 rotors, each rotor having 256 (0 to 255)
states to rotate into.

I know it depends on how the rotors move but what bounds are we looking
at? At least what and at most what?

The machine taking any character in extended ASCII (between 0 and 255)
and stays within 0 and 255.

Regards
Jean-Francois Michaud


Give up any idea of reviving a rotor machine for a serious purpose.

The *ultimate* military rotor machine was a Russian machine called
"violet" (google for lots of information). Violet had 10 rotors with
complex movement and fixed all the know problems with Enigma. When it
was first introduced it was for high security messages and was
down-graded as time went on. It was retired in the late 80's or early
90's with the Russians believing that it gave only *1 hour* of security.

So, someone is very good at cracking them and there time is over.

The *ultimate* machine?! How can anybody make such a statement? It
obviously wasn't the ultimate machine because they gave it up.

The problem with mechanical devices is that there are physical
limitations which force you to always stay within the boundaries of
what the machine allows you to do (not to mention practical limitation
in size). On the other hand, virtual machines are not limited in the
same way, there are no physical constraints, any stretch of the
imagination is possible.

And if you ask me, 10 rotors is not a big improvement over 3 or 4
rotors. Computers allow us to do much more, why not exploit that?

Why? They are complex even as virtual machines, and slow. Why do you want a
complex slow encrytion?

They are complex in structure, but not complex to implement. They are
in fact very easy to implement in code. If they potentially allow for
very strong encryption even if they are slow, does it matter? It all
depends on the context in which it's used.

Regards
Jean-Francois Michaud

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Enigma machine strenght using a computer
    ... I know it depends on how the rotors move but what bounds are we looking ... what the machine allows you to do (not to mention practical limitation ... They are complex even as virtual machines, ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Enigma machine strenght using a computer
    ... I was wondering what kind of encryption strenght we were looking at for ... states to rotate into. ... I know it depends on how the rotors move but what bounds are we looking ... Jean-Francois Michaud ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Enigma machine strenght using a computer
    ... I was wondering what kind of encryption strenght we were looking at for ... states to rotate into. ... I know it depends on how the rotors move but what bounds are we looking ... Jean-Francois Michaud ...
    (sci.crypt)
  • Re: Enigma machine strenght using a computer
    ... I know it depends on how the rotors move but what bounds are we looking ... The *ultimate* military rotor machine was a Russian machine called ... what the machine allows you to do (not to mention practical limitation ... same way, there are no physical constraints, any stretch of the ...
    (sci.crypt)