Posted: 24 September 2020 at 2:37am | IP Logged | 6
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Just to clarify something, we have in fact had an unbreakable cipher since before WW2, i.e., the (remarkably simple) Vernam Cipher or "One Time Pad," which was even used in the field by the US Military during WW2. It is so far the only provably secure cipher that is only vulnerable to theft of the keys (or related misuse). It has a number of large drawbacks for widespread electronic communications, not the least of which is that the encryption keys must (as the name indicates) only be used one time, be truly random, and have to be the same size as the message. (There's a list of other basic precautions at the link above). Generally, it is only used between two points that are likely physically guarded (like the old US-Soviet hotline, which was a teletype) or things like that.
As to why the Germans or anyone else besides the US didn't routinely use it in WW2 (as it was in no way secret), is doubtless because of the inconveniences it imposes. The US, at least had sufficient paranoia to build infrastructure that would allow its use.
If you are at all interested in the subject, I can highly recommend David Kahn's " The Codebreakers." I was truly amazed at the number of people who have died because of compromised communications.
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