Virtual Typex
A virtual simulation of the British Typex cipher machine
Find Out More Run Virtual TypexA virtual simulation of the British Typex cipher machine
Find Out More Run Virtual TypexIf you've ever asked the question, "If the Germans had Enigma, what did the British use to encrypt messages?" then Typex is probably the answer you're looking for.
Typex were rotor based, cipher machines which were developed in the U.K. from 1934 onwards. It was based on the commercial German Enigma machine but with a few changes which were made to increase its security.
They were used to send and receive messages for the British during WW2, but also due to its compatibility with Enigma, at Bletchley Park to decipher Enigma messages once the day key had been retrieved using the Bombes.
What was Typex How did it work How do I use the simulation!A number of simulations are available of machines which ran at Bletchley Park and in Germany during WW2.
Try out a useable Enigma machine in full 3D or see if you can break it using an Turing-Welchman Bombe!
Also now including Virtual ERNIE, the Premium Bond random number generator, which was designed and build by some of the same engineers as Colossus.
Also some older 2D simulations like Virtual Typex, a simulation of the British answer to Enigma.
A simulation of the first electronic computer which broke the German Lorenz cipher during WW2 at Bletchley Park.
The Lorenz SZ40/42 was a formidable cipher attachment used by the German High Command. Use the machine that Colossus was built to break.
The Turing-Welchman Bombe was an electro-mechanical device used at Bletchley Park and its outstations during World War II to assist in breaking the Enigma cipher.
The Dragon was built by the Signal Security Agency (SSA) at Arlington Hall, Virginia and was used at Bletchley Park to help break Lorenz codes. It was used to search for a crib (a guess at the text) within the cipher message.
E.R.N.I.E stands for the Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment and is a hardware random number generator built in 1956 to find winners each month for the National Savings Premium Bond prize draw.
Typex was a British cipher machine which used a very similar method of enciphering to Enigma. It was also used at Bletchley Park to decipher Enigma messages once the Bombes had found the day key.
Enigma machines were a series of cipher machines developed in Germany between 1923 and 1945. The cipher was cracked initially by the Polish and then expanded on and broken daily at Bletchley Park. This is a fully usable 3D simulation of two models of Enigma.
A simulation of the ICT 1301 2nd generation computer, specifically serial number 6, named Flossie.
A number of people I need to say thanks and tip my hat to...
www.TNMOC.org .. The National Museum of Computing where my obsession was sparked! Special thanks to John Harper and members of the Turing/Welchman Bombe Rebuild Project who were invaluable sources of information. Make sure you find time to see their rebuilt and fully working Bombe at the museum.
www.bletchleypark.org.uk .. loads of incredible Typex drawings and information in their archives and assistance finding audio and interviews with Typex Veterans from their Oral History project.
Science Museum Library and Archives .. and especially Dr Elizabeth Bruton, Curator of technology and engineering, who could not have been more helpful getting access to Typex information and manuals.
CryptoMuseum.com .. without this site's amazing closeup images and breakdown of Typex, Virtual Typex would not have been possible. My current home page of the last year!
GCHQ CyberChef .. GCHQ's CyberChef project team members on GitHub for not only creating an accurate Typex simulation for me to check against but especially for recording live audio from their working Typex for use in Virtual Typex!
Frode Weierud's cryptocellar.org .. for his work on breaking German Enigma ciphers for providing real German Enigma enciphered messages which can be deciphered and also Geoff Sullivan for helpful information and his work on simulations with the Crypto Simulation Group.
Virtual Typex by Virtual Colossus is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Please feel free to use Virtual Typex to learn or teach others about the Typex machine and the work done at Bletchley Park. If you find it useful or if you have any feedback or ideas for making it easier to use or understand, please do let me know
