Defence analysis
with
Ross Eastgate is a military historian, writer and journalist specialising in defence. A graduate of Duntroon and the Army Command and Staff College, he has served in the Middle East, PNG and East Timor.
that transposed the alphabet, and by changing the plugboard settings that transposed the wheels, messages could be sent in code enhanced by the number of wheels.
Each German military force employed different machines, with from three to eight rotors, adding to the complexity for Allied codebreakers.
Initially at Bletchley Park skilled mathematicians, led by Alan Turing, calculated letter patterns that enabled them to program their multiple Enigmas to decipher German military traffic.
Later Colossus, the world’s first digital computer, was able to decrypt and read German military communications within minutes.
The Enigma machines were the Trojan horses through which the Allies were able to understand German intentions and plan appropriate counter measures.
Intercepting radio traffic is
old hat, though the modern equivalent is hacking supposedly secure, digitally encrypted devices, like mobile phones and computers.
Imagine a hypothetical. A senior Australian official makes a private, under the radar, visit to a country intent on penetrating Australia’s political, diplomatic and military communication networks.
That individual takes official communication devices such as a mobile phone and computer, contrary to government security directions.
The same individual connects either or both to a local network, exposing them to identification and intercept, then leaves them “secured” in hotel accommodation in receptacles that do not meet Australian security requirements, particularly if they are not constantly supervised during the individual’s absence.
Easily accessed, smart IT operatives could have quickly copied all contained sensitive data, including passwords and keys to access wider government information systems.
The potential consequences of such actions, when discovered, should ring alarm bells.
This week Parliament was informed hackers who recently penetrated Canberra computer networks, including those of federal politicians, were from a hostile foreign power.
PM Morrison told Parliament a “sophisticated state actor” had initiated cyber attacks on Australian political networks, including within Parliament House.
The level of sophistication was described as “unprecedented”.
The inference was all government networks, including sensitive ministerial information and defence secret intelligence were possibly exposed and compromised.
Was there a Trojan horse that enabled this intercept?