Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Historical Cryptology (HistoCrypt 2024)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10062/98421

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Send someone to finish Fredenburgh’s works. A Dutch ciphertext (1689) from Suriname
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Dinnissen, Jörgen; Kopal, Nils; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
A ciphertext without its corresponding key was found in the archives from the Dutch colony Suriname, in the National Archives at The Hague. We were able to decrypt it through cryptanalysis and with the use of CrypTool2. The revealed plaintext contains a letter with military sensitive information and the name of Fredenburgh, who served as Governor ad interim from 1688 to 1689. It was sent in May 1689 by Governor Van Scharphuijsen to his directors in Amsterdam. Since 1689, the Society of Suriname (SvS) used ciphers for its militarily sensitive information. Ciphertext U3 was sent during the Nine Years’ War (1688-1697) when the Dutch were at war with the French. The letter was encrypted as a precaution against possible interception by the (French) enemy.
Development of the Block Cipher LAMBDA1 in 1990
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Stephan, Winfried; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
In 1990, it became apparent that the German Democratic Republic (GDR) would leave the socialist community of states. This involved the gradual reduction of cooperation between the cipher services of these countries and the separation of cipher connections. LAMBDA1 is a block cipher developed in East Germany in 1990. It was designed for a cipher device for which a Soviet algorithm was originally intended. The plan was to use a predecessor of the Soviet block cipher algorithm, called GOST. This now had to be replaced. The aim was to provide a cipher algorithm that could not be easily decrypted by either the Warsaw Treaty countries states or the NATO countries. The background to these considerations was the assumption that the GDR would confirm to exist as an independent state for an extended period in a kind of transitional phase. The article describes the circumstances under which the LAMBDA1 algorithm was developed in just one month. It was based on the results of previous projects and was then intensively analyzed. The project was only abandoned when it became clear that the unification of the two German countries would take place at short notice and was imminent. The algorithm below is described only to the extent necessary to understand the development process.
Decipherment of a German encrypted letter sent from Sigismund Heusner von Wandersleben to Axel Oxenstierna in 1637
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Waldispühl, Michelle; Kopal, Nils; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
We present our work on an encrypted letter from the Thirty Years’ War written by the ally of the Swedish Empire, Sigismund Heusner von Wandersleben in 1637 and sent from Kassel to the Swedish High Lord Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. We describe our analysis of the ciphertext including information on the cipher type, the process of cryptanalysis and challenges for the decipherment. We include the edition of the letter in the current state of decipherment and summarize its content.
On the tracks of Félix-Marie Delastelle
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Géraud-Stewart, Rémi; Naccache, David; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
“Can not find any info on Delastelle— Nothing on record in this country.” (William Friedman, 18 Jan 1955, NSA Archives A63734) Following these words, the then-director of the US National Security Agency hailed contacts in Europe, hoping that someone would fill in this missing information. The initial inquiry was sent to Friedman by amateur American cryptographer William Maxwell Bowers; in 1963, Bowers would publish under a pseudonym all that he could find on the matter (The Cryptogram 1963, preserved under reference VF 54-30 at the US National Cryptologic Museum). Since this document, which had a very limited audience, almost no new information on Delastelle was published, and indeed most of the information available widely today on Delastelle is at best fragmentary. In this paper we reopen that case, reviewing information about the life and work of Félix-Marie Delastelle, establishing data overlooked by earlier historians, correcting several oft-repeated errors and bringing novel documents to public awareness.
Post-quantum trails: an educational board game about post-quantum cryptography
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Vakarjuk, Jelizaveta; Snetkov, Nikita; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
Post-quantum cryptography has gained more and more attention with the recent developments in quantum technology. There are already standard drafts for the novel post-quantum crypto systems and organisations are starting the process of migration to post-quantum cryptography. However, the migration process has many challenges that need to be taken into account. Moreover, the algorithms themselves have become more complicated, making it more difficult to educate people about post-quantum cryptography. We propose to use gamification to make it easier to explain the main challenges and obstacles as well as the main steps of the migration process to the non-cryptographic community. We propose a board game that is built using the gamification taxonomy of Toda et al. to ensure a smooth learning process.
The enigma of Lorenzo Ventura’s cipher
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Bonavoglia, Paolo; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
The aim of this research was to find the algorithm used in the ciphers mentioned by Blaise de Vigenère in his treatise, where he states that in 1569, while in Venice, he learned about a steganographic cipher by a certain Lorenzo Ventura, similar to Tritemio’s Ave Maria. It had been used by the bailo in Constantinople after Sultan Selim II prohibited him from writing his dispatches in cipher. Now that a collection of letters, notes, and handwriting examples belonging to Ventura has been found in the State Archives of Venice, initial findings emerge that confirm, at least in part, Vigenère’s claims.
Supporting Historical Cryptology: The Decrypt Pipeline
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Héder, Mihály; Fornés, Alicia; Kopal, Nils; Szigeti, Ferenc; Megyesi, Beáta; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
We present a set of resources and tools to support research and development in the field of historical cryptology. The tools aim to support transcription and decipherment of ciphertexts, developed to work together in a pipeline. It encompasses cataloging these documents into the Decode database, which houses ciphers dating from the 14th century to 1965, transcription using both manual and AI-assisted methods, cryptanalysis, and subsequent historical and linguistic analysis to contextualize decrypted content. The project encounters challenges with the accuracy of automated transcription technologies and the necessity for significant user involvement in the transcription and analysis processes. These insights highlight the critical balance between technological innovation and the indispensable input of domain expertise in advancing the field of historical cryptology.
Exploring the Alignment of Transcriptions to Images of Encrypted Manuscripts
(Tartu University Library, 2024) García, Goio; Torras, Pau; Fornés, Alicia; Megyesi, Beáta; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
The automatic transcription of encrypted manuscripts is a challenge due to the different handwriting styles and the often invented symbol alphabets. Many transcription methods require annotated sources, including symbol locations. However, most existing transcriptions are provided at line or page level, making it necessary to find the bounding boxes of the transcribed symbols in the image, a process referred to as alignment. So, in this work, we develop several alignment methods, and discuss their performance on encrypted documents with various symbol sets.
Can Artificial Intelligence solve the mysterious anagram from the church of the Poor Clares in Bratislava?
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Antal, Eugen; Zajac, Pavol; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
A mysterious anagram was found in the Church of the Poor Clares in Bratislava, but as far as we know it has never been successfully solved. The anagram contains81 symbols, including specific diphthongsAE, CH, and GY. Unlike other anagramstypical of that age, the symbolsare not ordered alphabetically. We suspectthat a specific order of symbols is relatedto the original order of symbols in theplain text. Even with the suspected orderof letters, the number of possible plain textcandidates is too high to obtain the originaltext with standard methods. We examinealternative scoring methods based onmodern AI text similarity to improve thequality of the candidate plain text candidates.
The Philosophy of Secrecy: Towards a Historical Analysis of Cryptography, Privacy, and Information Organization
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Halpin, Harry; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
The philosophical definition of privacy is conflated with the secrecy of individual life as guaranteed by the nation-state. We trace the origin of this conception of the nation-state as the guarantor of liberal privacy, and in parallel investigate the claim (by Schmitt) that the historical origin of the modern nation-state is given by the keeping of secrets. From these contradictory claims, we show how the phenomenon of state secrecy and the surveillance of citizens is inherent in the historical development of sovereignty. Finally, we demonstrate the centrality of the history of cryptography to the philosophy of history.
What Encryption Errors Can Reveal: Cross-Cipher Errors in Mary Queen of Scots’ Letters
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Biermann, Norbert; Tomokiyo, Satoshi; Lasry, George; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
In the recently deciphered letters from Mary Queen of Scots, a large number of systematic encryption errors were found and attributed to confusion as a result of concurrently using at least one other cipher key to communicate with a different recipient. In this paper, we further analyze such cross-cipher errors in those letters and identify additional cipher keys involved. This analysis also reveals valuable insights on the secret communications of Mary, Queen of Scots. We employ several techniques including statistical analysis, which may be applied to the analysis of encryption errors in other collections of historical enciphered documents.
Sources of Alchemical Cryptography
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Lang, Sarah; Zotov, Sergei; Piorko, Megan; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
This paper presents an initial overview of cryptographic sources relating to alchemy, an area that remains largely unexplored. Alchemists and chymists frequently encrypted short passages relating to recipes and experiments, obscured content using exotic foreign languages or custom shorthand, and created unique symbol codes. A survey of manuscripts reveals the diversity of sources in over 100 instances of ciphering in alchemical contexts, where ciphers were only one of several methods traditionally used to maintain secrecy. It serves as a starting point for further research, demonstrating the wealth of archival material related to alchemical cryptography –a goldmine yet untapped.
French encrypted newspaper advertisements in the 19th century
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Schmeh, Klaus; Müller, Didier; Dunin, Elonka; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
We present a ciphertext database created by one of the authors. It contains over 3700 encrypted newspaper advertisements published in the French newspaper Le Figaro between 1875 and 1897. The collection includes over 2300 solved messages, which have been encrypted in almost 90 different crypto systems, as well as over 1400 unsolved cryptograms. We introduce some of the most interesting solved and unsolved advertisements, including messages based on ciphers, codes, and steganography. It will become clear that in addition to the messages contained in the database so far, thousands more encrypted advertisements from French newspapers remain to be catalogued and deciphered.
Demystifying La Buse’s Cryptogram and the Fiery Cross of Goa
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Dahlke, Carola; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
The field of cryptology alone offers a multitude of exciting exhibits and stories for a museum of science and technology. But when secret ciphers meet seaborne piracy and rich treasures, it sounds like a perfect mix for a successful storytelling. However,an extensive study of an eyewitness account and contemporary reports on the legend of la Buse led to sobering contexts related to colonialism, inquisition and, apart from a small kernel of truth, to a large spool full of seaman’s yarn.
The Use of Volvelles in Two Early Modern Cryptography Manuals
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Bayerl, Corinne; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
This paper examines the form and function of volvelles (rotating paper discs) used to represent cipher systems in Giambattista della Porta’s De furtivis literarum notis (1563) and in the French translation of Trithemius’Polygraphia by Gabriel de Collange (1518, transl. 1561). I analyze the use of volvelles in cryptography handbooks within the larger context of their overall function in the Early Modern period, and I identify the factors that may account for an increasing use of volvelles in succeeding editions of della Porta’s and Trithemius’ works in the second half of the 16th century. Collange’s expanded version of Trithemius’ manual and della Porta’s numerous amended editions of his own handbook indicate that changes in the material representation of cipher systems correlate with an increased level of public knowledge about encryption methods.
The Keys of Diplomacy. The encrypted correspondence of Saxon-Polish Ministers Wackerbarth and Flemming 1700-1720.
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Rous, Anne-Simone; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
In the Great Northern War (1700-21), the two most important ministers of August II of Poland, Count of Flemming and Count of Wackerbarth, regularly exchanged reports and communications. Several passages of their correspondence are encrypted. Based on examples from the years 1700, 1706, 1715, 1717, and 1720s, this paper presents tentative results of the first phase of a project aimed at analyzing the entire correspondence from 1698 to 1728. Key questions concern differences in the structure of the ciphers and the efforts involved in decryption. New research perspectives are outlined, such as how ciphers are reused and how cryptography and steganography were combined. The examination of encrypted passages provides insights beyond the facade of 'August the Strong’.
An early French digit cipher: deciphering a letter from the King of France to the Duke of Nevers (1592)
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Desenclos, Camille; Lasry, George; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
We deciphered a single letter written in 1592 by Henry IV, King of France, to Louis de Gonzague, Duke of Nevers, held in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF). The ciphertext mostly consists of contiguous digits, and demonstrates an early use of digit ciphers in 16th-century France. In this letter, Henri IV exposes some parts of his current military strategy against the Catholic League. After deciphering the letter, we were able to locate the original cipher table in another BnF manuscript, illustrating how codebreaking may assist historical research both to reconstruct the content of encrypted letters and to identify anonymous cipher tables.
Overlooked, forgotten, misunderstood: the "other" SIGINT in World War II
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Hatch, David; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
Fascination with ULTRA, the extraordinary World War II cryptologic intelligence, by historians and the public alike has eclipsed knowledge of and study of a second important cryptologic intelligence source. Whereas ULTRA provided senior Allied leaders with deep insight into enemy strategic thinking and plans, tactical cryptologic intelligence often gave combat commanders the vital information needed to win actual battles. Tactical cryptologic intelligence is less known and studied partly because it is in the shadow of ULTRA. In addition, fewer sources about the practice of tactical cryptologic intelligence have survived, and those readily available are fragmented and anecdotal. Tactical cryptologic intelligence merits further research and analysis if we are to have a fuller understanding of cryptology in practice and intelligence in the world war.
Decipherment of an Encrypted Letter from 1724 Found in UCL Special Collections’ Brougham Archive
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Kopal, Nils; Makin, Katy; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
This paper shows the decipherment of a 1724 encrypted letter, discovered recently in the Brougham Archive at University College London (UCL) Special Collections. The letter’s content hints at political intrigue and possibly relates to the Jacobite movement during George I’s reign in Great Britain. However, as all individuals mentioned in the letter are referred to bycode names, except for Madame de Prie, their true identities remain unknown to the authors. Therefore, any connection to the Jacobites remains speculative. The paper covers the cipher’s security, historical context, and unresolved inquiries surrounding the letter.
How the MachinesWere Assisted by Women
(Tartu University Library, 2024) Fricker, Elizabeth S.D.; Waldispühl, Michelle; Megyesi, Beáta
The following paper analyzes nature of skill in the cryptographic work performed by female employees of the World War II British cryptography program at Bletchley Park. Using anecdotes from women who worked to decrypt the Lorenz cipher, I show the hidden skills which were integral to their work and to the war effort. This paper aims to reconstruct their experiences and deepen our understanding of what it took to operate decryption machines, especially focusing on the Colossus computer.

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