Secret Services & Patents: The Enigma Machine

The patent I chose to represent my blog is the one about the Enigma Machine, because in the field of Cryptography is the first form of mechanization of this long process of encrypting messages, for its internal complexity, involving both mechanical and electronic circuits, that makes it a real artwork. The images below are taken from the first Enigma-related Patent, the one presented by Arthur Scherbius the 23 February 1918 and released the 8 July 1925.

 

 Later in time other patents were filed, most of them proposing implementations to the original machine: for example the possibility to use tubes fulfilled with water instead of electric wires, or to change the letter circuit with a multi-switches pannel (number of possible swaps incresing in time from 6 to 10), to remove rotors and  trade their places (UKW), to add a ring that make the rotor, on which it is applied, to do an additional movement after a key-press....

There are also two evolutions of the machine: the Enigma A and the Zahlwerk Enigma (or Enigma G), respectively filed on March, 26th, 1924 and on November, 9th, 1928. There were more developpements of the machine depending on the branch of the German army in which it was used.





Following: a family tree of the Enigma evolution created by Paul Reuvers & Frode Weierud (second link between sources for further informations) and here on the right the legend to better understand how it has been organized by the autors.
Enjoy...

Continues....

Sources:
http://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/enigma/patents/
http://www.cryptomuseum.com/crypto/enigma/tree.htm

Maps & Secret Services

Our professor Vittorio Marchis  suggested to find a carthography which was coherent with our blog theme and so I've founded not one but three maps, two of which are complementary, that in my opinion are a resumè of what my blog represents:

The first map describe the Organization of the buildings in Bletchley Park in different operating areas, meanwhile the second one depict the pattern followed by not yet analyzed messages

In the link below you can find a google map which illustrates the different positions assumed, in the course of time, by the SIS' Headquartes, the neuralgic centre of all inteligence operations. Londonhttps://maps.google.it/maps/ms?msid=210910011879806218578.0004dc6e3a581c0ae61ba&msa=0

64 Victoria Street - 1909

Ashley Mansions - 1909 'till 1911

Whitehall Court - 1911 'tll 1919

Melbury Road - 1919 'till 1926

Broadway Building - 1926 'till 1964

Century House - 1964 'till 1994

Vauxhall Cross (HQ) - 1994 'till present day

Curiosity: SIS HQ features in several Bond films, like GoldenEye, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Skyfall.  The production company, Eon Productions, filmed several sequences outside Vauxhall Cross in cooperation with SIS.  The most impressive involved an explosion which causes a large hole in the side of the building and a speed boat launching into the Thames, this was actually filmed using a 50 foot high model of Vauxhall Cross constructed at Pinewood Studios.

The argument of this post is related to the ones contained in The Art in the Agency and in SIS, aka MI6...A little bit of History.

Source:

https://www.sis.gov.uk/our-history/buildings.html

Maps & Concepts

These are the main topics about technology and secret services that I'm going to treat in this blog!!
Hoping that, now that you know which the arguments are, you still want to keep on  reading this stuff...In this case appointment to the next blog!! I'm sure it won't take long!