[Cryptography] Pearl Harbor and Crypto (was Re: ISIS has ‘help desk’ to ai d would-be terrorists with encryption)

[Perry E. Metzger]

On Fri, 20 Nov 2015 08:47:55 -0800 Henry Baker <hbaker1 at pipeline.com>
wrote:
> Apparently, even though the US had completely broken the Japanese
> codes, the Navy still lost track of the Japanese fleet *due to
> total radio silence* (this problem wasn't completely fixed until
> spy satellites were deployed), so Pearl Harbor was a "complete"
> surprise (except that radar picked up the incoming planes, but
> apparently no one was willing to believe that new-fangled radar
> technology).

The actual events were a bit more complicated. A better explanation is
given in the opening section of "The Codebreakers" by Kahn. (The
chapter is entitled "One Day of Magic", "MAGIC" having been the
codename for the decrypted Japanese intercepts.)

Perry
-- 
Perry E. Metzger		perry at piermont.com