Compromise of Polish codes and ciphers WWII
2 days ago
- #Cryptography
- #WWII
- #Intelligence
- Poland fought on the side of the Allies in WWII and was the first country occupied by Nazi Germany.
- Polish Government in Exile and military forces contributed significantly to the Allied war effort, including Polish pilots in the Battle of Britain and troops in North Africa, Italy, and Western Europe.
- Polish intelligence service operated extensively in occupied Europe, even infiltrating the German High Command, and collaborated with British, American, and Japanese intelligence agencies.
- Polish intelligence provided around 80,000 reports to the British, including critical information on German V-weapons and high command activities.
- Polish diplomatic and military ciphers were compromised by German, British, and American codebreakers during the war.
- German codebreakers solved Polish diplomatic ciphers, including 'Code 45', and military intelligence ciphers, gaining valuable intelligence.
- British and American codebreakers also decrypted Polish military intelligence communications but did not warn the Poles, risking Allied security.
- Polish resistance and intelligence networks in Switzerland (Ekspozytura S) and France (Ekspozytura F2) were compromised by German codebreakers.
- Polish cipher machines like the Lacida were found insecure, and attempts to secure communications with British Typex machines were hindered by production issues.
- The compromise of Polish communications was a significant intelligence failure, with lessons for future cryptographic security.