The Message
The other day I received an SMS and could for the hell of me me not make head to tail of it, from a number I did not know. Suspecting that it may be some new encryption routine, I sent it over to a group of encryption experts, whom I happen to know, and after three days of deliberation over the content of the message threw their arms up in despair and handed me a report stating that there was no known cipher that would be able to make head or tail of the message that was sent.
Being determined, and I must admit, feeling somewhat like a spy in one of the spy thrillers, that I have been addicted to for years, akin to 007, or the likes, I proceeded on my mission, to determine the content of the message. Was this some message that related to the impending attack on some government agency that would eventually lead to chaos, or some international organisation that would invariably change the world as we know it. I had to know!
The Mall, and into a cell providers store. Maybe they could unravel the mystery of the message. The youngster behind the counter took one look at the screen, pondered a bit, called his companion and after a somewhat lengthy discussion proclaimed, "I have never seen anything like this before!".
"It must be broken and will have to be repaired."
"REPAIRED!", I exclaimed paging through some other messages I received.
"How do you explain this", pointing out a perfectly normal SMS.
"Is there a special encryption routine?", I ask.
He then rattled off some story about how the signal had possibly been corrupted while being transmitted by the cell tower and proceeded to question my whereabouts when the message was received. He was clearly out of his depth, plausible, but yet unbelievable. Abandoning this route of enquiry I decided to see if I could find someone who could possibly reveal this enigma.
The Library, a gentleman who seems to be a WW II veteran, or close enough anyway. I make my way over and after short introductions reveal my mystery.
"I recall", he says, "The Germans had a machine called the Enigma machine which was used to encode messages. This looks very close to a cipher that was generated by one of these"
Copying the content of the message to a piece of paper he proceeds with a complex grid of letters and numbers and eventually proclaims "I have it !". A list of letters which I cannot make head or tail of is put in front of me.
"Must be an error", the veteran says and then rumbles on about how transmissions can be corrupted and proceeded to ask me about my whereabouts when the message was received. It was all quite plausible, yet unbelievable.
My last resort, I reply to the sender,"?".
Waiting in anticipation. Will this be the biggest breakthrough yet. Will I become the instrument that saves the government, or better yet, the world. Seconds pass, I grow restless and start pacing the floor. Pictures of fast cars, exotic locations and "Bond girls" fill my mind. The alert of an SMS arriving at my phone shatters my thoughts. I flip through the messages eager to see what has been plaguing me
"Hi dad need money and airtime, love your son" ;-)
Being determined, and I must admit, feeling somewhat like a spy in one of the spy thrillers, that I have been addicted to for years, akin to 007, or the likes, I proceeded on my mission, to determine the content of the message. Was this some message that related to the impending attack on some government agency that would eventually lead to chaos, or some international organisation that would invariably change the world as we know it. I had to know!
The Mall, and into a cell providers store. Maybe they could unravel the mystery of the message. The youngster behind the counter took one look at the screen, pondered a bit, called his companion and after a somewhat lengthy discussion proclaimed, "I have never seen anything like this before!".
"It must be broken and will have to be repaired."
"REPAIRED!", I exclaimed paging through some other messages I received.
"How do you explain this", pointing out a perfectly normal SMS.
"Is there a special encryption routine?", I ask.
He then rattled off some story about how the signal had possibly been corrupted while being transmitted by the cell tower and proceeded to question my whereabouts when the message was received. He was clearly out of his depth, plausible, but yet unbelievable. Abandoning this route of enquiry I decided to see if I could find someone who could possibly reveal this enigma.
The Library, a gentleman who seems to be a WW II veteran, or close enough anyway. I make my way over and after short introductions reveal my mystery.
"I recall", he says, "The Germans had a machine called the Enigma machine which was used to encode messages. This looks very close to a cipher that was generated by one of these"
Copying the content of the message to a piece of paper he proceeds with a complex grid of letters and numbers and eventually proclaims "I have it !". A list of letters which I cannot make head or tail of is put in front of me.
"Must be an error", the veteran says and then rumbles on about how transmissions can be corrupted and proceeded to ask me about my whereabouts when the message was received. It was all quite plausible, yet unbelievable.
My last resort, I reply to the sender,"?".
Waiting in anticipation. Will this be the biggest breakthrough yet. Will I become the instrument that saves the government, or better yet, the world. Seconds pass, I grow restless and start pacing the floor. Pictures of fast cars, exotic locations and "Bond girls" fill my mind. The alert of an SMS arriving at my phone shatters my thoughts. I flip through the messages eager to see what has been plaguing me
"Hi dad need money and airtime, love your son" ;-)
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