OpenAI GPT–6 Astra breaks Enigma message that has resisted solution since 2005
Trending on Hacker News: OpenAI GPT–6 Astra breaks Enigma message that has resisted solution since 2005 (507 points / 345 comments, via cryptocellar.org)
Opening excerpt
On 15 September 2026, Carter Leffer contacted me to request validation of a break of the German Army Enigma message MVUEH of 10 July 1941. The message, which was sent by a radio station with the tactical callsign 2ny, was received by the radio station of the SS-Totenkopf Quartiermeister, Ib. Ib received the message at 17:30 on 10 July 1941 and logged the message as Nr. 172 in its log of incoming messages for July 1941. Since 2005, the message has resisted all attempts to break it.
On 9 June 2017, Alex Shovkoplyas succeeded in breaking another unbroken message from this day, Nr. 173, SIPVX. However, the Enigma key he recovered for the message differed slightly from the daily Enigma key for 10 July 1941 used for all other messages from this day. The SIPVX key used the same wheel order, 512, as the daily key, but the plug connections ( Stecker ) and ring setting ( Ringstellung ) differed. However, the new key did not allow us to break the MVUEH message.
After Carter Leffer sent the MVUEH break details, it was immediately clear he had found the correct key and plaintext.
(Excerpted from the original; full article via the source link below.)
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Source: Hacker News