InfoSearched
Published -
- March 1, 2020
- 3:44 pm
Jim Sanborn created a sculpture containing a secret message.
It sits on the grounds of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Yet no one has been able to solve it. Code breakers from around the world have tried for 30 years. They’re stumped. The artist meets with people like cryptologist Elonka Dunin who are desperate to solve the mystery at his Maryland studio every year or so. But Sanborn won’t divulge any clues. It’s too much fun keeping everyone guessing.
Who played a significant role in cracking the Enigma code during World War II, and how did this contribute to the development of modern encryption technology?
Cracking the Uncrackable Code: The Challenges and Progress of Cryptography
In today’s digital age, encryption has become a necessity for secure communication, storage, and transmission of data. One of the primary objectives of encryption is to prevent unauthorized access to confidential information. Cryptography has evolved significantly over the years, and the advancements have led to the creation of encryption algorithms that are considered unbreakable. However, mathematicians and cryptographers are continually trying to break these seemingly uncrackable codes, and their efforts have yielded astonishing results in the field of cryptography.
The encryption technology that modern society has today is firmly rooted in the work of Alan Turing, a mathematician, and computer scientist. Turing played a significant role in cracking German’s Enigma code during World War II, which resulted in a strategic advantage for the Allies in the war. However, in the years that followed, the Enigma code was decoded, and other, more advanced encryption methods emerged, leading researchers to believe that some codes were unbreakable.
One such encryption algorithm that was believed to be unbreakable was the RSA algorithm. Created by Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman in 1977, the RSA public-key cryptography algorithm has become a standard form of encryption for securing sensitive data. The RSA algorithm is based on the difficulty of factoring large composite numbers, making it almost impossible to crack the code. However, researchers have found ways to exploit weaknesses in the algorithm’s implementation, such as low public exponent attacks.
Another code that was deemed uncrackable is the One Time Pad (OTP). OTP is a encryption technique that is considered perfectly secure in theory, but difficult to implement practically. OTP uses a random key generator to create a key that only the sender and recipient have access to. However, the challenges in generating a truly random key and the need for secure key distribution render the OTP impractical.
Despite the challenges of cracking uncrackable codes, mathematicians and cryptographers have made significant progress in the field of cryptography. In 2011, researchers from the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, in Switzerland, proposed an efficient attack that broke the uncrackable code used by the Mifare Classic chip, a common chip used in many smart cards. The researchers used side channel analysis to exploit weaknesses in the chip’s implementation, allowing them to break the card’s cryptography without the need for the encryption key.
In 2019, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California, Berkeley, introduced a new method of quantum cryptography that could make RSA encryption obsolete. The researchers proposed a unique algorithm that is efficient in breaking even the strongest RSA encryption keys by using a quantum computer.
In conclusion, the progress made in cryptography is a testament to the human capacity for exploration and the desire to unravel the secrets of the seemingly unbreakable. The challenges of cryptography will continue to arise, leading researchers to push the boundaries of science and technology. The cracking of uncrackable codes may seem like a distant dream, but the advancements made so far is proof of the possibility. As encryption technology evolves, society will continue to rely on cryptography to secure sensitive information, and the quest to break the unbreakable code will continue to deliver remarkable contributions to cryptography.
