kids encyclopedia robot

Lorenz cipher facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Lorenz-SZ42-2
The Lorenz SZ42 machine with its covers removed. Bletchley Park museum

The Lorenz cipher was the German rotor stream cipher machines used by the German Army during World War II. This machine and its messages were eventually worked out by the team at Bletchley Park during World War II.

British cryptanalysts (codebreakers) worked out its logical structure three years before they saw the machine.

Images for kids

  • Lorenz Cams

    Cams on wheels 9 and 10 showing their raised (active) and lowered (inactive) positions. An active cam reversed the value of a bit (0→1 and 1→0).

  • British Tunny Rebuild

    A rebuilt British Tunny at The National Museum of Computing, Bletchley Park. It emulated the functions of the Lorenz SZ40/42, producing printed cleartext from ciphertext input.

  • ColossusRebuild 11

    A team led by Tony Sale (right) reconstructed a Colossus (Mark II) at Bletchley Park. Here, in 2006, Sale supervises the breaking of an enciphered message with the completed machine.

  • Lorenz SZ40 cipher machine (TUNNY) - National Cryptologic Museum - DSC07883

    A Tunny (Lorenz) machine on display at the National Cryptologic Museum, Fort Meade, Maryland, USA

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Lorenz cipher Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.