EJMT Abstract

The cryptanalysis of the Enigma machine has been recognized as one of the supreme achievements of the human intellect. One of the trickiest parts related to the plugboard, which contributed by far the largest factor to the total number of configurations of the machine. To determine the daily plugboard connections, Allied codebreakers used electromechanical devices called the bombe and the checking machine. After they found the plugboard connections though, they still had to discover additional settings, the difficulty of which varied depending on which branch of the German military had created the messages under attack. The process was significantly more difficult for messages created by the German Navy. In this paper, we will describe some of the procedures involved in recovering this additional information needed to fully cryptanalyze the Enigma. To assist in demonstrating these procedures, technology involving Maplets will be used.