[Cryptography] [Crypto-practicum] An historical document.

Ray Dillinger bear at sonic.net
Sun Sep 11 14:41:44 EDT 2016



On 09/11/2016 10:51 AM, Henry Baker wrote:
> At 09:47 AM 9/11/2016, Ray Dillinger wrote:

> I merely suggested that Turing might have seen some of that
> "extensive publicity".
> 
> I haven't searched the historical documents, but IBM would very
> likely have made a big deal out of this use of their tabulating
> equipment.

Yeah.  It is exceedingly likely that Turing saw publicity
about the Coast Guard Cryptanalysis Group breaking the
codes of rumrunners and opium rings and traffickers and
smugglers.  I'm thinking it's very unlikely that he saw a
breath in the news about them using the IBM tabulating
equipment to do it.

The whole point here was to make sure that no mention
of the tabulating devices' use in cryptanalysis was to
make it into that publicity, and specific mention was made
of making it clear to IBM that no mention of the use of
those devices in cryptanalysis was to make it into their
publicity either.  They were probably allowed to say the
Coasties were using them, but they weren't to breathe a
word about what they were using them for.  If asked,
they'd have to talk about boring office stuff like
keeping track of billable contractor hours, distribution
of military mail to all the mobilized personnel, tracking
distribution of supplies and materiel and purchase orders
and accounting.  You know, normal things, right?  All
those other perfectly real logistical challenges where
their machinery would be useful, which were also
logistical challenges that their business customers
could relate to their own uses for the devices.

This is the MIB deciding to keep something confidential,
not the news story that could have only resulted from
their failure to do so.

				Bear



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