{"id":5730,"date":"2015-05-08T16:40:42","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T20:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kasperskydaily.com\/uk\/?p=5730"},"modified":"2019-11-22T10:14:17","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T10:14:17","slug":"ww2-zorge-book-cipher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/ww2-zorge-book-cipher\/5730\/","title":{"rendered":"World War II information security: Richard Sorge and book cipher"},"content":{"rendered":"

The so-called book cipher<\/a> has always been in favor with authors of spy novels and detective stories, who usually try to mimic reality but are not ready to feed hardcore tech concepts to readers. It is quite easy to refer to the book code, as it\u2019s the easiest encryption method comprehensible enough for the reader. As such, it does not seem to be a fictional ciphering system, like the one where you substitute letters with their corresponding sequential numbers.<\/p>\n

Book ciphers are based on the predisposition that both correspondents have the same book. The ciphering mechanics are based on a simple principle of a letter being substituted by the number of a page\/line\/character in the line. More sophisticated methods are based on the use of the piece of text as a \u2018gamma\u2019, or a sequence of characters used to code the message.<\/p>\n

Any book cipher allows procurement of an encrypted text not prone to being cracked. But, more importantly, it solves the issue of passing the key to the counterpart \u2013 the parties may agree on using a specific\u00a0book beforehand.<\/p>\n

One of the most renowned intelligence officers to use a book code was Richard Sorge<\/a>, a legendary Soviet spy who operated in Japan. He is famous for two achievements: conveying the exact date of the German invasion of the Soviet Union and for letting the command know Japan had no plans of attacking USSR in the Far East.<\/p>\n

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During WW2 modern cryptography principles were often coupled with \u2018amateur\u2019 but equally reliable ciphering methods https:\/\/t.co\/4282BWOXyx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kaspersky (@kaspersky) May 6, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n