If you have explored the cryptography section and still want to find out more about cryptography, then the following sites might be of interest.
Sites also of interest to children and teenagers are marked (Y).
Enigma and WW II
The official Bletchley Park website, which includes opening times and directions in case you want to visit. (Y)
The Imperial War Museum have created an excellent on-line cryptography exhibition, ideal for younger people. If you want skip the early history, then the excellent material about Enigma starts here. (Y)
The text of a speech presented by Sir Harry Hinsley, wartime codebreaker, at Cambridge University’s Computer Security Group.
Website with information about British and Allied codebreaking in WWII. It includes explanations of how the Enigma works and how the Lorenz cipher was broken by the Colossus.
A site hosted by Enigma expert David Hamer, with features and links to sites about Enigma and other cipher machines, including post-war devices.
Largest web collection of digital facsimiles of original documents by Turing and other pioneers of computing. Plus articles about Turing and his work, including Artificial Intelligence. Also, recently declassified previously top-secret documents about codebreaking.
The memorial stands in Sackville Park, Manchester. This website is authored by the sculptor, Glyn Hughes.
Lots of information about Bletchley Park, the Enigma, the birth of computing and cryptography in general. Also includes several useful links.
An excellent site about some of the unsung heroes of WWII.
Find out more about the Navajo language and codes employed by the the U.S. military.
A site in honour of the Navajo and other Native American Code Talkers. Includes FAQs about the Code Talkers and about Native Americans.
An excellent Enigma emulator which allows you to tinker with all the settings, just like the real thing.
This is an ideal introductory site to online privacy and the packages available to encrypt your own e-mails.
A paper by James Ellis about the history of non-secret encryption, GCHQ’s version of public key cryptography. A second online paper shows Ellis’s original paper.
An introduction to elliptic curves and how they are used to create a public key algorithm.
Politics and Privacy
This New Statesman article offers an insight into the expansion of the US-UK-Allied forces electronic surveillance service, also known as Project P145, based at Menwith Hill, Yorkshire. This system allows the US and UK governments to listen in on your domestic telephone calls….
An interesting site outlining one of the biggest dilemmas facing cryptography today – the right to internet privacy versus the dangerous and illegal use of the internet. This site outlines the existing and proposed laws relating to this very modern moral issue.
A very detailed and informative site discussing modern cryptology – from its applications in banks, businesses and e-mails, to the current legal issues surrounding the subject.
A San-Francisco based organisation committed to defending Internet privacy rights. Their aims can be summarised in their own words: “Only by fighting for our rights to speak freely whatever the medium – whether books, telephones, or computers – can we protect and enhance the human condition.”
The Global Internet Liberty Campaign carried out a major survey on the current cryptographical policies of over 75 countries. This site outlines the findings of the survey, and the possible implications in societies where human rights infringements are occurring on a daily basis.
A site developed by businesses and universities designed to help understand and analyse cryptographic mechanisms.
General Cryptography Sites
Download the complete version or a “lite” version of the CD-ROM which accompanies The Code Book.
An association for codebreakers from all over the world – despite the name – which concentrates on classical ciphers.
A fantastic museum just outside Washington DC, with exhibits ranging from sixteenth century crypto manuals to modern cipher machines. (Y)
Dedicated to research into quantum cryptography and quantum computers, with an excellent tutorial section and articles aimed at various levels of expertise.
A quarterly journal dedicated to the history of cryptography. Content includes computer security, military science, espionage, cipher devices and ancient languages.
Click on the last link on this page to find out more about the Ovaltine decoder ring – a handy way to decode simple substitution ciphers. (Y)