Lior Elam, the Israeli Grid Association
Thousands of volunteer surfers connected with each other using the 'Grid' software and cracked with the help of the unified computing power, a message coded using the Nazi Enigma machine. The message was deciphered for the first time, using grid technology, more than 60 years after it was sent.
Steven Kara, an amateur German cryptographer, decided to use grid technology, which was used for efficient utilization of computing resources in organizations, in order to crack three messages intercepted during World War II. The messages were intercepted by the British team of mathematicians led by Alan Turing, at the Bletchley Park estate about 60 years ago, but they were never deciphered.
The military messages were encrypted with the help of a new model of the German encryption machine - Enigma, which was used starting in 1942. The improved model of the Enigma made it difficult to decipher the ciphers and as a result even resulted in several defeats of the British army, which could have been avoided if the messages had been deciphered in time.
In January of this year, Kara placed on his website 'Grid' software, which allows users to share their computing resources and thus create computing power with the help of which it will be possible to decipher three messages from the Nazi command that have not yet been deciphered. Thousands of surfers, who came to the site by word of mouth, joined the first cracking mission and after about a month and a half on February 20, he announced that the first message had been decrypted.
The encrypted message looks like this:
NCZWV USXPN YMINH ZXMQX SFWXW LKJAH SHNMC
OCCAK UQPMK CSMHK SEINJ USBLK IOSXC KUBHM
LLXCS JUSRR DVKOH ULXWC CBGVL IYXEO AHXRH
KKFVD REWEZ LXOBA FGYUJ QUKGR TVUKA MEURB
VEKSU HHVOY HABCJ WMAKL FKLMY FVNRI ZRVVR
TKOFD ANJMO LBGFF LEOPR GTFLV RHOWO PBEKV
WMUQF MPWPA RMFHA GKXII BG
And this is the message after decoding and translation from German to English:
"FT 1132/19 contents:
Forced to submerge during attack.
Depth charges. Last enemy position 0830h
AJ 9863, (course) 220 degrees, (speed) 8 knots.
(I am) following (the enemy).
(barometer) falls 14 mb, (wind) nor-nor-east,
(force) 4, visibility 10 (nautical miles).
looks"
Hertwig Loucks, commander of the submarine U-264, was among the 52 survivors of a depth attack by two British ships, on February 19, 1944.
Surfers can participate in deciphering the other two encrypted messages, by downloading the 'Grid' software from the M4 website (www.bytereef.org/m4_project.html). Avner Algum, CEO of the Israeli Association for Grid Technologies (www.Grid.org.il) explains that there are several other projects on the Internet to which surfers can donate the power of their personal computers. Some of these projects are concentrated on the union's website, including projects designed to find cures for diseases such as AIDS, cancer and malaria.
What is so special about grid technology? To illustrate, it can be said that the grid users see the network as one virtual computer, similar to how we see the content on the Internet (WEB) as one logical resource. The resources in the network, Algum explains, can be physical resources such as: processors, storage resources and the communication network. and software resources such as: database servers, application servers, etc.
In the business world, the grid is a tool that provides the answer that so many organizations have been waiting for. The logical unification of the computing resources in the organization, makes it possible to use them optimally and allocate them according to demand, for the various applications of the organization. Organizations that use grid technology can build flexible computing (IT) systems that make better use of existing resources, at a lower cost and with better scalability and performance.
The union is a non-profit association, supported by the magnet program of the Chief Scientist of the State of Israel. The union has about 35 organizations, among them the largest computer companies in the world. The union manages frameworks for sharing knowledge and experience through international conferences, workshops, working groups, the only virtual grid laboratory in Israel, a monthly newsletter and more. The organization also offers through its website (www.Grid.org.il) a knowledge center, most of which is open to the general public.
The Israeli Association for Grid Technologies (www.Grid.org.il)
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~418263158~~~80&SiteName=hayadan
