Here are a few questions about Singh Chapter 2 you might consider as you read.

  1. For some time before the development of the Vigenère cipher, “anybody sending an encrypted message had to accept that an expert enemy codebreaker might intercept and decipher their most precious secrets.” (Singh, p. 45)  How is this environment different from the one that Mary Queen of Scots experienced, where one didn’t know how likely it was that one’s encrypted message was secure?
  2. The Great Cipher used by Louis XIV remained unbroken for 200 years.  What were the factors that led to such a secure cipher?
  3. Why do you think that the advent of the telegraph motivated the use of a more secure cipher like the Vigenère cipher?
  4. Prior to the work of Babbage and Kisiki, “most cryptanalysts had given up all hope of ever breaking the Vigenère cipher.”  Given that the Vigenère cipher was well-known, what might lead a cryptanalyst of that time to give up hope in cracking it?
  5. Singh notes that in the latter half of the 19th century, there was “an enormous growth of interest in ciphers among the general public.” (p. 79)  What factors do you think led to this growth?  Would you say there is interest in ciphers among the general public today?
  6. The Beale Ciphers have remained unbroken for over a hundred years.  Given that hundreds if not thousands of professional and amateur cryptanalysts have tried to break them without success, why do you think there are still people who attempt to break them?  What motivates people like that?