Source: www.schneier.com – Author: Bruce Schneier
Comments
tfb •
I do wonder whether the remaining colossi were really still useful in the 1960s. I suppose they must have been but that’s well into the era of transistor computers.
Clive Robinson •
@ tfb, ALL,
“I do wonder whether the remaining colossi were really still useful in the 1960s.”
Yes…
Remember that the crypto machines they were designed to work against were still being used “second hand” by many nations as “high level” systems.
So you keep them going…
The equivalent was people still using “valve radios” into the 1980’s.
Erdem Memisyazici •
Some dude named Flowers working at the Post Office was instrumental to winning the second world war. That’s just awesome. Happy 80th to the crazy half optical reading 30mph rolling 5000 characters a second tuna fish destroyer machine!
echo •
In the UK security services PR revolves around recycling old material and punching a few nod along buttons and playing up to stereotypes. I’ve listened to their keynotes and read public policy related documents and statements and you won’t find much useful in there. In fact some stuff is utterly useless like their statements on the far right threat and hate crime. It’s simultaneously a threat, and head in sand fence sitting because they can’t make up their mind whether the threat is increasing or simply more reported. Their diversity policies are cringing too, or contain nothing of substance.
One of their big slip ups was letting Cyril Smith MP off the hook. They knew for decades he was a child abuser but sat on this information because “it wasn’t a security issue” i.e. they were sticklers for the law and public policy as written. It’s known there are currently 65+ outstanding complaints against sex pest MPs. It is also known compromised MPs were bullied by party whips to support Brexit motions.
Very few people even today give much credit to the women “computers” who played a huge role in the codebreaking effort without which Collossus would be a huge paperweight but, yah know, shiny toys…
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/computer-industrys-gendered-history-from-womens-work-mens-rutherford
Women had made up the majority of the first programmers during the Second World War; Early on war efforts like the Colossus in the UK (codebreaking ) at Bletchley Park , 8000 of the 10000 employees were women. Women were recruited into these projects in large part because of the shortage of masculine labour during the war and also because much of the work was considered monotonous and therefore more suited to women’s ‘skills’. The work, particularly as part of the war effort, attracted many educated women who had little hope of gaining any other fulfilling work.
This isn’t a bad essay and explains many of the informal barriers. Like I alluded to in a previous topic modern gatekeeping is going through recyling. Although it can be tracked back over a century (and earlier) modern gatekeeping is the major pinchpoint.
https://flashbak.com/mini-skirt-monday-minis-and-vintage-computers-17675/
For God’s sake…
Pace •
Remember that the crypto machines they were designed to work against were still being used “second hand” by many nations as “high level” systems.
There was also that recent story about Israeli intelligence overlooking landline telephones, which showed the risk in forgetting about old technology. It could just as well have been transistor radios and Morse code; or, in 20 years, will the spies be watching lettermail and able to read cursive writing? If nothing else, it’s embarrassing to be defeated by “old” methods.
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Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Original Post URL: https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/01/new-images-of-colossus-released.html
Category & Tags: Uncategorized,cryptography,history of cryptography – Uncategorized,cryptography,history of cryptography
