August 6, 2010 1:10 PM

Cryptology Devices That Turned the Tide of War (Pictures)

By
Daniel Terdiman
Topics
In The News ,
Tech Talk

The National Cryptologic Museum, run by the National Security Agency, is a treasure trove of artifacts of the modern--and not so modern--history of code making and code breaking devices.

(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)

FORT MEADE, Md.--For anyone with even the vaguest sense of the history of World War II, the term "Enigma" should hold some special meaning.

That, of course, was the name of the encryption device the Germans used to such great success during the first years of the war, allowing them to pass messages without worry of their being decrypted by the Allies.

But when the Allies finally solved the mystery of the Enigma, it turned the course of the war. The Germans were no longer able to stay ahead of the Allies and were no longer able to communicate in secret with anywhere near the efficacy that they had before.

Click here for a full photo gallery from the NSA's National Cryptologic Museum.

27 Photos

The crypto machines of the NSA museum (photos)

View the Full Gallery »

For more, see Dan's story on CNET

  • Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between.

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