Science of Secrecy

Holy Grail Restaurant, Canberra

Ever since writing was invented, people have found cunning ways to disguise secret information. Encryption reached new heights of brilliance during WWII with the invention of the Enigma machine, and today, hackers use similar principles to unlock sophisticated computer keys to crack into computer systems. What are the secrets of encrypting and breaking codes? How safe is your private information? Should computers be more - or less secure? and should hackers be taking all the blame? Join regular Cafe Scientific hosts Paul Willis (ABC TV Catalyst) and Bernie Hobbs (ABC Science Online) for a beer or glass of red and some cracking good discussion with guests Claire Ellis (UK Enigma project), Bill Caelli (Qld Uni Technology), Suelette Dreyfus (author and academic) and Tim Cranny (90east).

The Enigma machine is an electro-mechanical device that relies on a series of rotating 'wheels' to scramble plain text messages into incoherent ciphertext. The machine's variable elements can be set in many billions of combinations, and each one will generate a completely different ciphertext message. If you know how the machine has been set up, you can type the ciphertext back in and it will unscramble the message. If you don't know the Enigma setting, the message remains indecipherable.

The German authorities believed in the absolute security of the Enigma, but British code breakers stationed at Bletchley Park during WW2 managed to exploit weaknesses in the machine and how it was used and were able to crack the Enigma code.

During the war there were thousands of machines, as every German military unit needed one to encipher and decipher coded messages. But sixty years on, very few remain. The Enigma here tonight is a genuine machine, built in 1936 and used by the army in France during the war. It's still in perfect working order and maintains virtually all of its original parts.

Dr Paul Willis

Paul Willis got into science as a kid and has never grown out of it. He found his first fossil when he was six and has been hooked on palaeontology ever since. Paul studied Geology and Zoology then did a PhD on fossil crocodiles. He joined the ABC in 1997 and worked in radio, TV and online, before becoming a reporter on ABC TV’s Catalyst. He broadcasts weekly to ABC radio in Western Australia and the Northern Territory as well as ABC Radio Tasmania, and networked ABC radio every Thursday night.

Bernie Hobbs