Conference article

What We Know About Cipher Device “Schlüsselgerät SG-41” so Far

Carola Dahlke
Deutsches Museum, Germany

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Published in: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Historical Cryptology HistoCrypt 2018

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 149:20, p. 109-111

NEALT Proceedings Series 34:20, p. 109-111

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Published: 2018-06-13

ISBN: 978-91-7685-252-1

ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

Almost everyone knows the Enigma. But the cipher device “Schlüsselgerät 41”? Never heard of it. This German cipher machine is much rarer than its famous predecessor. Only around 1500 units were manufactured towards the end of the Second World War. And information is even scarcer. Up to now, the Deutsches Museum has only been able to collect broken devices. Recent contacts to collectors reveal that functional Schlüsselgeräte 41 still exist. They could help to solve the secret of the encryption algorithm. This contribution aims to present our current state of research.

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