Nazi codes cracked by amateurs

A group of online amateurs have cracked some of the toughest Nazi codes of WWII using an online network of home PCs.

Three of the ciphers, created in 1942 by a new version of the Nazi's Enigma machine, baffled the famous Allied code-breakers of Bletchley Park during the war.

Republished in a journal in 1995, the three codes have become the target of amateurs who banded together to create a grid of net-connected machines to power the effort.

The man behind the first successful attempt is Stefan Krah, a German violinist with an interest in cryptography and software.

After writing a program, he publicised his efforts on the web and attracted the aid of 45 people who allowed their PCs to be networked into the project.

Within two months, the network stood at 2,500 linked PCs.

The first of the codes to be broken is a message from the German U-boat, U264, and reads:

'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].' 

More here.