carrier pigeon message been cracked? NOPE - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 16, 2012, 11:48:11 pm
content: BBC Nobbers claim dumb and dumber think they solved the cypher text found on a pigeon.they haven't.I don't believe this is a correct "interpretation" of the message, as it is too generic. Nothing contained in the message is of any use whatsoever. "Hit Jerry’s right or reserve battery here", "Troops, panzers, batteries, engineers, here", "Counter measures against panzers not working", "Go over field notes", "Found headquarters infantry right here"What good is any of that? Where is "here"? There would have to be precise coordinates or grid numbers to indicate exactly what is where.The other question is where would the pigeon be delivering this message to? All the way back to some headquarters in Britain is where. In that case the context of the message is even less useful, especially considering there would be a several hour delay before the message could be delivered all the way from France to Britain.More information on these sites, includes the various "decoded" phrases.lets not forget this is a one time pad your talking a very small possibility of finding the correct key. They used bingo machines to generate the pads used for cryptographic communications. They have a a very high entropy making nye impossible to guess the key though means such as brute forcing.In 17 minutes he certainly wouldn't have time to find a set of conditions that matched the acronyms he was claiming.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20749632

author: Frangible
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2012, 02:25:07 am
content: Perhaps you are assuming encryption via a one-time pad. This would make the message unsolvable, but is too difficult to use for transmission of tactical information, which may only need to remain secret for a few days at most. It is very likely that the message was encoded, then super-enciphered with a basic Playfair system - which was still in use during WWII for low-level stuff. The message might even dispense entirely with super-encipherment in order to provide updates as quickly as possible, relying on the shortness of the message to prevent too much depth for German code breakers to work with. This is all just conjecture on my part, as I don't know what types of codes & cyphers were in use by that particular branch.I wouldn't discount the use of "here" instead of precise locations for the main reason that both the transmitter and receiver would know pretty much where "here" is, especially in the early parts of the invasion. It could also have been communicated in an previous message (e.g. "moved to x.y), after which "here" would still be known to both parties.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2012, 03:03:03 am
content: Quote from: Sionyn on December 16, 2012, 11:48:11 pmyou are thinking too technical, but actually... thats the point!

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2012, 10:06:05 am
content: one time pads are what we used at the time one time pads generated with bingo machines far too much entropy for this guys arbitrary solution however if he prove his work with war records diaries i'll change my mind.

author: notsob
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2012, 11:17:48 am
content: Apparently Yeshttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-17/history-buff-cracks-wwii-carrier-pigeon-code/4432652

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 17, 2012, 11:54:29 am
content: Most likely would not be encrypted at all, just used known abbreviations and knowledge of the sender's location. Intercepting a bird in flight is hard, especially one heading away from you at low altitude and heading into what to you is enemy held territory. The recipient would know which person sent the bird, and in most cases would have corroborative messages from other observers as well to use. Giving a code pad to use in a rainy field with having to write out the message first, then open a code book, encode then write down again then transcribe onto a thin sheet for the bird takes time. Easier to write a known abbreviated code that will be easy to remember in the field, and do so direct onto a thin flimsy that you put directly onto the bird then release it. Less to lose and more secure, as then there is no code book to be used to deliver false reports with if captured. Id observer believes he is going to be captured he just releases all the birds and there is no way he can be used to deliver false info. The birds arriving back empty indicated the observer is captured and thus needs a replacement and that the area around is now known to be more dangerous.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 18, 2012, 03:17:10 pm
content: http://www.bletchleypark.org/news/docview.rhtm/675670Quote

author: Frangible
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2012, 02:25:42 am
content: It would be of no benefit to GCHQ if the let on they were capable of solving such a code anyway. They are not in the business of telling anybody anything about any capability they may have. Knowing their mania for secrecy and obfuscation in general, if they managed to convince everyone they were unable to solve even the Sunday Jumble, then so much the better.

author: Noize
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 29, 2012, 02:47:21 am
content: This is interesting if you don't know about it already.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station