East and West Midlands Branches

 

THE INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS AND ITS APPLICATIONS

in conjunction with the

 BRITISH COMPUTING SOCIETY,

COVENTRY UNIVERSITY and SIGMA

 

 

Cracking the Cipher Challenge

 

A talk by

Simon Singh

 

Wednesday 6^th December, 2006

starting  7.00 pm

 

 

Coventry University

Goldstein Lecture Theatre

Alan Berry Building

 

Abstract

In "The Code Book", a history of cryptography, the author Simon Singh included ten encrypted messages with a prize of £10,000 for the first person or team to decipher all of them. Thousands of amateur and professional codebreakers took up the Cipher Challenge, but it took over a year before the messages were cracked. Simon Singh will be talking about how he constructed the Cipher Challenge and how the winners eventually cracked it. He will also be using the Cipher Challenge to give an introduction to the history of cryptography and to demonstrate why encryption is more important today than ever before. In particular, he will discuss what the Cipher Challenge can teach us about Internet security and he will be demonstrating a genuine Second World War Enigma cipher machine.

Since studying physics at Cambridge, Simon Singh has been a TV Director and author. He directed for BBC Tomorrow's World and Horizon, and his books include Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang. Arrangements are being made for book signings either before or after the lecture in the University Bookshop, more details to follow.

 

Entry to the talk is by ticket only. Places are limited and demand is expected to be high so please book early to avoid disappointment. To book, please send an email request to John Goodband (j.goodband@coventry.ac.uk) stating ‘IMA member ticket application’.