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Flaw in the Enigma Code - Numberphile

Numberphile · explainer · Watch on YouTube

CryptographyRecreational & visual mathHistory of computing

What it is

Numberphile's Dr James Grime explains the flaw in the Enigma machine, namely that a letter could never be encrypted to itself, and how that helped the Allies break the code. It touches on the Bombe and Alan Turing.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN points to it as a short, clear explanation of why Enigma was breakable and how search-space elimination works.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2013, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “Some people might like this from Numberphile which describes the flaw in the enigma machine”

    Describes the flaw that let codebreakers crack Enigma.

    sproketboy, 2013-01 · Recommendation · in “The Enigma Machine: How Alan Turing Helped Break the Unbreakable Nazi Code”

  2. “Numberphile gives a nice, succinct explanation”

    Succinct explanation of Enigma's exploitable flaws.

    iClaudiusX, 2017-09 · Recommendation · in “Forthcoming book seeks to visualise, locate and expose many numbers stations”

  3. “numberphile has a great video on that one”

    Explains search-space elimination like cracking Enigma.

    DarkmSparks, 2025-01 · Recommendation · in “Cracking a 512-bit DKIM key for less than $8 in the cloud”

  4. “Also a more proper explanation”

    A proper explanation of Enigma's weakness.

    robaato, 2025-08 · Recommendation · in “Encryption made for police and military radios may be easily cracked”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: enigma, cryptography, world war ii, alan turing, bombe

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