The Zodiac Killer was riding high in October 1970, currently sitting on four unbroken ciphers he had mailed on November 8th 1969, December 7th 1969, April 20th 1970 and June 26th 1970. On October 6th 1970 the Zodiac Killer would mail the 13-Hole "Punch Card" with thirteen holes punched through the fabric of the card, while simultaneously declaring himself "crackproof". His use of the words "crack" or "cracked" were usually chosen when referring to his ciphers, so one could conclude that the thirteen punch holes in the card, having been mailed 5 1/2 months after his 13-Symbol cipher on April 20th 1970, which contained the words "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you? My name is....", could be related.
Creating thirteen punch holes in the card (previously used in coding machines), in combination with the word "crackproof", may suggest a link between the two communications mailed on April 20th 1970 and October 6th 1970. Especially when you consider no cipher was included in the card mailed in October. It has previously been shown that the 13 punch holes were positioned in a 10:3 configuration, with the 3 punch holes placed directly below where they sat in the 13-Symbol cipher on April 20th 1970 (see below). If these two communications were linked together, we need to examine the Zodiac Killer's decision to use punch holes, his choice of the word "crackproof", and his selection of the three circled 8's in his 13-Symbol cipher, to see if we can connect all three to one encipherment technique or coding machine.
Creating thirteen punch holes in the card (previously used in coding machines), in combination with the word "crackproof", may suggest a link between the two communications mailed on April 20th 1970 and October 6th 1970. Especially when you consider no cipher was included in the card mailed in October. It has previously been shown that the 13 punch holes were positioned in a 10:3 configuration, with the 3 punch holes placed directly below where they sat in the 13-Symbol cipher on April 20th 1970 (see below). If these two communications were linked together, we need to examine the Zodiac Killer's decision to use punch holes, his choice of the word "crackproof", and his selection of the three circled 8's in his 13-Symbol cipher, to see if we can connect all three to one encipherment technique or coding machine.
SIGABA CIPHER MACHINE The Zodiac Killer was "about 40" years of age in 1969 according to the three sets of eyewitnesses at Presidio Heights, so he would have been around 16 (or possibly slightly older) at the time World War II ended. If he had an interest in cryptography, he would almost certainly have known about Alan Turing, a British mathematician who led the crucial World War II effort at Bletchley Park, England to crack the German Enigma machine, an electromechanical rotor device used for secure military communications. This cipher machine is arguably the most famous cipher machine in the world, but it was far from unbreakable.
It was clear to US cryptographers well before World War II that the single-stepping mechanical motion of rotor machines (e.g. the Hebern machine) could be exploited by attackers. In the case of the famous Enigma machine, these attacks were supposed to be upset by moving the rotors to random locations at the start of each new message. This, however, proved not to be secure enough, and German Enigma messages were frequently broken by cryptanalysis during World War II. William Friedman, director of the US Army's Signals Intelligence Service, devised a system to correct for this attack by truly randomizing the motion of the rotors. His modification consisted of a paper tape reader from a teletype machine attached to a small device with metal "feelers" positioned to pass electricity through the holes. When a letter was pressed on the keyboard the signal would be sent through the rotors as it was in the Enigma, producing an encrypted version. In addition, the current would also flow through the paper tape attachment, and any holes in the tape at its current location would cause the corresponding rotor to turn, and then advance the paper tape one position. In other words, the punch holes were a key ingredient to the encipherment process. link.
It was clear to US cryptographers well before World War II that the single-stepping mechanical motion of rotor machines (e.g. the Hebern machine) could be exploited by attackers. In the case of the famous Enigma machine, these attacks were supposed to be upset by moving the rotors to random locations at the start of each new message. This, however, proved not to be secure enough, and German Enigma messages were frequently broken by cryptanalysis during World War II. William Friedman, director of the US Army's Signals Intelligence Service, devised a system to correct for this attack by truly randomizing the motion of the rotors. His modification consisted of a paper tape reader from a teletype machine attached to a small device with metal "feelers" positioned to pass electricity through the holes. When a letter was pressed on the keyboard the signal would be sent through the rotors as it was in the Enigma, producing an encrypted version. In addition, the current would also flow through the paper tape attachment, and any holes in the tape at its current location would cause the corresponding rotor to turn, and then advance the paper tape one position. In other words, the punch holes were a key ingredient to the encipherment process. link.
KEY TAPE USED IN THE M-134 CONVERTER. CLICK IMAGE TO VISIT PDF ABOUT SIGABA.
WILLIAM FRIEDMAN SIGABA (also known as the ECM Mark II) was primarily developed by a team of American cryptographers in the mid-1930s, with key contributions from William Friedman. The device was an electromechanical rotor-based cipher machine developed in the late 1930s in the United States as a joint effort of the US Army and US Navy At the time it was considered a superior cipher machine, intended to keep high-level communications absolutely secure. It was used throughout WWII and was so reliable that it was used well into the 1950s, after which it was replaced by newer machines like AFSAM-7 (KL-7). As far as we know, SIGABA was never broken by Axis powers. In other words it was the primary encryption technique used in World War II by America - and to the best of our knowledge - remained "crackproof" throughout its service.
This gives us the "punch holes" in paper and the "crackproof" elements, but where do we find the "888" present in the 13-Symbol cipher, that was possibly highlighted in the 13-Hole "Punch Card"? The U.S. Army called the cipher machine SIGABA or Converter M-134. The U.S. Navy called the machine the CSP-888 (Cryptographic Security Publication) and CSP-889. The machine has three banks of 5 rotors each. The main bank (at the rear) holds 5 rotors with 26 contacts each. These are the main cipher rotors. They work in a similar way as the rotors of the contemporary German Enigma machine.
This gives us the "punch holes" in paper and the "crackproof" elements, but where do we find the "888" present in the 13-Symbol cipher, that was possibly highlighted in the 13-Hole "Punch Card"? The U.S. Army called the cipher machine SIGABA or Converter M-134. The U.S. Navy called the machine the CSP-888 (Cryptographic Security Publication) and CSP-889. The machine has three banks of 5 rotors each. The main bank (at the rear) holds 5 rotors with 26 contacts each. These are the main cipher rotors. They work in a similar way as the rotors of the contemporary German Enigma machine.
EDGAR ALLAN POE The 13-Symbol cipher on April 20th 1970, many believe was a response to the challenge by Donald C. B. Marsh, who told the San Francisco Examiner on October 22nd 1969: "The killer wouldn't dare, as he claimed in letters to the newspapers, to reveal his name in the cipher to established cryptogram experts. He knows, to quote Edgar Allan Poe, that any cipher created by man can be solved by man. Zodiac has not told the truth in his cipher messages to the Examiner, the Chronicle and the Vallejo Times-Herald. Zodiac has not done this, because to tell the complete truth in relation to his name, in cipher code, would lead to his capture. I invite Zodiac to send The American Cryptogram Association a cipher code, however complicated, which will truly and honestly include his name".
By invoking the name of Edgar Allan Poe, it was probably hoped that the Zodiac Killer would use one of the cryptographic techniques described (or used) by Poe in his famous works, such as "A Few Words on Secret Writing", which contained all the ingredients used in the decryption of the 340 cipher and the design of the 13-character code, including the scytale method of decryption, the splitting of the alphabet, A throgh M and N through Z, and the cipher wheel, which uncovers a potential message in the Z13 code. The SIGABA cipher machine has room for three rows (or banks), of five cipher wheels each.
By invoking the name of Edgar Allan Poe, it was probably hoped that the Zodiac Killer would use one of the cryptographic techniques described (or used) by Poe in his famous works, such as "A Few Words on Secret Writing", which contained all the ingredients used in the decryption of the 340 cipher and the design of the 13-character code, including the scytale method of decryption, the splitting of the alphabet, A throgh M and N through Z, and the cipher wheel, which uncovers a potential message in the Z13 code. The SIGABA cipher machine has room for three rows (or banks), of five cipher wheels each.
CLICK IMAGE TO READ In total, we have 13 punch holes and 13 ciphertext characters, a famous "crackproof" cipher machine and the same declaration by the Zodiac Killer on October 6th 1970, the 10:3 configuration on the "Punch Card" possibly highlighting the position of "888" as the key in the April 20th 1970 letter, the CSP-888 cipher machine used by the U.S. Navy in World War II, the cipher wheel explained by Edgar Allan Poe in July 1841 in A Few Words on Secret Writing, prompted by cryptographer Donald C. B. Marsh in a newspaper article on October 22nd 1969, and the signature of "ME⊕" revealed in the Z13 by using three right shifts of 8, which was also present in the Exorcist letter on January 29th 1974. The other possibility, is we have nothing.
`` Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) popularized cryptography in the 1840s through stories like "The Gold-Bug," prompting a young William Friedman (1891–1969) to pursue the field. While Friedman became a legendary U.S. Army codebreaker who valued Poe’s role as a catalyst, he famously critiqued Poe’s actual cryptanalytic skills as amateurish in his 1936 analysis, "Edgar Allan Poe, Cryptographer". Could we therefore have a crossover between the cipher machine CSP-888 and the essay of Edgar Allan Poe, A Few Words on Secret Writing, manifesting itself on April 20th 1970? A Few Words on Secret Writing is mentioned by William Friedman on page 146 of his analysis (see below).
William F. Friedman on Edgar Allan Poe
THE FRIEDMAN LECTURES ON CRYPTOLOGY
`` Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) popularized cryptography in the 1840s through stories like "The Gold-Bug," prompting a young William Friedman (1891–1969) to pursue the field. While Friedman became a legendary U.S. Army codebreaker who valued Poe’s role as a catalyst, he famously critiqued Poe’s actual cryptanalytic skills as amateurish in his 1936 analysis, "Edgar Allan Poe, Cryptographer". Could we therefore have a crossover between the cipher machine CSP-888 and the essay of Edgar Allan Poe, A Few Words on Secret Writing, manifesting itself on April 20th 1970? A Few Words on Secret Writing is mentioned by William Friedman on page 146 of his analysis (see below).
William F. Friedman on Edgar Allan Poe
THE FRIEDMAN LECTURES ON CRYPTOLOGY
EXCERPT FROM WILLIAM FRIEDMAN'S ANALYSIS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
FOLLOW UP ARTICLE: A FEW DAYS AFTER DEATH
RSS Feed
