A Bird Skeleton, a Code and, Maybe, a Top Secret

[Sabot6]

An interesting article from today's NY Times about the skeletal remains of a WWII carrier pigeon with its coded message still tied to its leg; the article speculates it may have been used during the Normandy invasion.

The link is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/world/europe/world-war-ii-pigeons-message-a-mystery.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0 if anyone is interested.

Best,

Sabot6

[LongLeftFlank]

"“A thousand pigeons, each with a two-ounce explosive capsule, landed at intervals on a specific target,” Wing Commander Rayner wrote, “might be a seriously inconvenient surprise.” Not least, of course, to the pigeons."

Wot, held underneath the dorsal guiding feathers?

[Broadsword56]

An interesting article from today's NY Times about the skeletal remains of a WWII carrier pigeon with its coded message still tied to its leg; the article speculates it may have been used during the Normandy invasion.

This just in...

Bletchley Park has cracked the code and translated the pigeon's message:

S-E-N-D

M-O-R-E

M-A-R-M-I-T-E

[John Kettler]

Sabot6,

Remarkable! Those are code groups. They're in blocks of five in order to complicate code breaking based on word length. Morse radio transmissions were also sent this way because it was much easier to make sure the message was sent and received properly. If there was a glitch, only a group or a few groups had to be retransmitted, rather than the entire message.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Sabot6]

Here's an update for anyone who might have an interest: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/world/europe/code-found-on-pigeon-baffles-british-cryptographers.html?_r=0.

Best,

Sabot6

[John Kettler]

Sabot6,

So, GCHQ couldn't break it? Fascinating.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Redwolf]

The article doesn't load for me, but anyway.

A lot of WW2 encryption by the competent parties was done using one-time pads. These are unbreakable as long as good quality random numbers have been used (and WW2 had few sources of low quality random numbers). So we might not learn what it said.

[John Kettler]

Redwolf,

The Russians used to employ one-time pads for some of their communications, thus, theoretically were unbreakable. I say theoretically because you have humans involved. Lazy, corner cutting humans, some of whom are cipher clerks. Said cipher clerks have been known to reuse a one-time pad, creating a cryptologically exploitable break in the information's security. Where this has happened, it's been disastrous. Also, as you note, albeit in slightly garbled form, "low quality," where I believe you meant to say "high quality," what seem to be random numbers have been found to have order within their randomness, thus, are attackable and ultimately readable. This is precisely why you find, for example, RNGs (random number generators) based on things like when a radioactively decaying element next emits or even such exotica as quantum tunneling through some defined material. These, unlike other RNGs, truly are random.

Regards,

John Kettler

[Lt Belenko]

"“A thousand pigeons, each with a two-ounce explosive capsule, landed at intervals on a specific target,” Wing Commander Rayner wrote, “might be a seriously inconvenient surprise.” Not least, of course, to the pigeons."

Wot, held underneath the dorsal guiding feathers?

I had a pigeon drop a bomb on me once. It was way bigger than 2 ounces.

[Michael Emrys]

...what seem to be random numbers have been found to have order within their randomness, thus, are attackable and ultimately readable.

But could this have been done in a reasonable and useful amount of time with the computational devices available in that era?

Michael

[Redwolf]

But could this have been done in a reasonable and useful amount of time with the computational devices available in that era?

Michael

At the time they did not have computers to make random numbers and hence were not vulnerable to deficiencies in the algorithms.

[Tempestzzzz]

Sabot6,

So, GCHQ couldn't break it? Fascinating.

Regards,

John Kettler

Well that is what they would like you to believe.

"5 Eyes" isn't in the business to advertise abilities. Part of their shop involves lies, damn lies, half-truths, mudding the waters, obfuscating...

[JonS]

"5 Eyes" isn't in the business to advertise abilities. Part of their shop involves lies, damn lies, half-truths, muddying the waters, obfuscating...

GCHQ isn't "5 eyes"

Edit: and anyway, there's simply no mileage in it for them in lying or obfuscating in this case, and the spooks there would probably enjoy the challenge and publicity of decyphering something that has high interest but no importance. I suspect this is exactly what it says on the tin; they can't break it with the info they have available. Assuming this was a well-executed one-time-pad (possible, although it seems operationally impractical), then they're SOL. If it's anything less than that, they're still SOL because they have no context from which to attack the cypher. They think it's related to D-Day, but it could just as well be from Rene of the French resistance, lamenting the loss of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies. Even worse than that, they don't have a mass of other, similar, messages available from which to start mounting an attack. This could be a from common-as-muck daily cypher used at battalion or brigade level, used to encrypt low level tactical information (something like "5 Platoon is at White's Farm"), but without an example of the slidex or bunch of other known messages it's impenetrable. Or not worth GCHQ's time to penetrate.

[Tempestzzzz]

I know that.

[altipueri]

I live in Cheltenham, home of GCHQ. The GCHQ car park is empty from Friday afternoon to Monday morning so if any of you are plotting then that's the time to act because there is nobody minding the machines. On the other hand as most of our likely enemies take Fridays off the whole thing is really just a tax payer subsidised four day week lark.

As for the pigeon code - if one time pads are so good why are we wasting so much money on things that don't work?

[John Kettler]

altipueri,

Short answer? One time pads are fundamentally awkward when dealing with large volumes of message traffic. Both parties must have the identical sheet from the pad, in and of itself a hassle for the operative in the field.

Here's a very good short discussion of one-time pads: who invented them, how they work, what not to do, why and the disaster that befell the Russians from reusing old one-time pads.

http://www.ranum.com/security/computer_security/papers/otp-faq/

Are you now on MI5's watch list for outing GCHQ's apparent dubious work ethic?

Regards,

John Kettler

[Redwolf]

As for the pigeon code - if one time pads are so good why are we wasting so much money on things that don't work?

You must arrange for sender and receiver to have a copy of the pad (without any opportunity for somebody to copy it in transit or at home) and the pad must be as long as the message. Pretty annoying since they need to be generated from a high quality random source.

Stocking up large amounts of one-time pads makes them very vulnerable to discovery by the enemy or from espionage.

[altipueri]

altipueri,

Are you now on MI5's watch list for outing GCHQ's apparent dubious work ethic?

Regards,

John Kettler

Yes, I'm doomed.

If I'm found dead in zipped up holdall you can have my WW2 PC game collection. Ancients and Napoleonics go elsewhere.

[John Kettler]

Redwolf,

Even if they're tiny, like at the link I gave, it's still a pain and a hassle.

altipueri,

Maybe they'll make an "MI 5" episode about you first! "The Case of the Lazy Boffins." 'I'm afraid your kind bequest would do me little good. Am a Mac guy. Now, tell me more about these Ancients and Napoleonics, if you would. Are we talking minis?

Regards,

John Kettler

[permanent666]

when i first saw the posts title i thought someone found a bird skeleton and code inside the cmbn files

[Wicky]

Can we expect 'pigeon tips' on the fly in CM3?

The despatch, sent by 27-year-old Sergeant William Stott, identified German troop and panzer tank positions in Normandy and highlighted ‘Jerry’ headquarters and observation posts to target for attacks.

It read: ‘Hit Jerry’s right or reserve battery here.

'Troops, panzers, batteries, engineers, here.

'Counter measures against panzers not working.’

Expert Gord Young deciphered it by consulting a Royal Artillery codebook which had been kept by a relative who fought in the conflict.

Mr Young, who works at Lakefield Heritage Research in Ontario, Canada, says the message proves paratrooper Sgt Stott went behind enemy lines to help military planners direct the D-Day offensive.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2248818/Hit-Jerrys-panzers--code-dead-wartime-pigeon-cracked.html#ixzz2FAItX4T2

[JonS]

Isn't that a bit ... colloquial? And, what the heck is "here" supposed to mean?

[Michael Emrys]

And, WTF is "here" supposed to mean?

Was there a map that accompanied the text? If not, and I think it unlikely, I'm with Jon on this one. It smells fishy.

Michael

[Wicky]

The Dorset Echo version is a bit fuller - I wonder if they missed out map coordinates.

http://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/10110584.It_s_a_real_coo_as__unbreakable__war_code_found_on_pigeon_in_Portland_is_cracked/

“Artillery observer at ‘K’ Sector, Normandy. Requested headquarters supplement report. Panzer attack – blitz. West Artillery Observer Tracking Attack.

Lt Knows extra guns are here. Know where local dispatch station is. Determined where Jerry’s headquarters front posts. Right battery headquarters right here.

Found headquarters infantry right here. Final note, confirming, found Jerry’s whereabouts. Go over field notes. Counter measures against Panzers not working. Jerry’s right battery central headquarters here. Artillery observer at ‘K’ sector Normandy. Mortar, infantry attack panzers.

Hit Jerry’s Right or Reserve Battery Here. Already know electrical engineers headquarters. Troops, panzers, batteries, engineers, here. Final note known to headquarters.

[John Kettler]

Wicky,

Considering there was no real basis for expecting this message to be broken, this is great news. It seems to me that either the coordinates were left out by both papers, being meaningless to the readers, or the coordinates haven't yet been deciphered and/or, maybe, the sergeant's cryptically referring to earlier information. "K" Sector has to be a known location to his handler. He then transmits previously requested supplemental info. I agree that there seems to be filler text, but the core message appears to be the FO location and possibly cryptic references to (previously discussed?) suspected artillery battery locations. I never heard of an electrical engineers HQ. Signals or some such, fine, but that one's also likely filler or code for something else.

If, and this is a big if, we get coordinates, then we'll know for sure what's where--provided we can find the pertinent intelligence map with the German military positions plotted thereon. Failing that, there may be a way to obtain this information from captured German records at your Archive, NARA here or the Bundesarchiv. It would also be worth knowing how intelligence work was conducted by the British in Normandy before D-Day. That is, did the British operate in some defined area related to their planned landing zones, or did they simply operate in the Normandy area without reference to where their landings would occur? I doubt the latter scenario. Why? It would be all too easy for operatives to inadvertently run into one another, potentially putting both in the bag.

Shall be most interested in seeing what other developments may come.

Regards,

John Kettler