Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/27/enigma_m4_code_breaker/
Enigma message cracks under distributed computing
Code breaking help sought
Posted in Bootnotes, 27th February 2006 11:51 GMT
Watch Now : Virtual Machine Movement with Hyper-V
A distributed computing project has been set up that aims to crack unbroken Enigma ciphers dating back to World War II. One [1] of four unbroken Nazi codes has already succumbed. The M4 project [2] is seeking help from the net community in breaking the other three codes.
Computer users interested in getting involved can download a client onto their PCs which takes advantage of idle processing time to perform number crunching in much the same way the popular SETI@Home screen saver was used to analyse radio telescope signals from space in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The name of the project comes from the belief that the signals were encoded using a four rotor Enigma M4 device. The signals analysed by the project were captured in the North Atlantic in 1942. ®