Cryptography trivia
Cryptography Mini Quiz
Test your knowledge with these top questions!
How did Navajo Code Talkers handle military terms with no ordinary Navajo equivalent?
The code dictionary assigned descriptive Navajo terms to military concepts, such as an "iron fish" for a submarine.
The Zimmermann Telegram urged Mexico to recruit which country for the proposed alliance?
The proposed three-country alliance never formed because Mexico rejected the offer.
Why did Navajo Code Talkers' transmissions puzzle Japanese codebreakers?
Few non-Navajo people understood the language, and added code words made military messages even harder to interpret.
What kind of device was the Enigma Machine?
The Enigma Machine combined electrical circuits with rotating rotors to turn typed letters into ciphertext.
Which Enigma Machine component swapped letter pairs before and after rotor scrambling?
The plugboard swapped selected letter pairs at the machine's input and output, adding another substitution layer.
Who proposed using Navajo speakers for a U.S. military code in World War II?
Philip Johnston grew up around the Navajo reservation, learned the language, and pitched the idea to the Marines.
The Zimmermann Telegram promised Mexico help to reclaim which U.S. states?
Germany offered an alliance and financial support if Mexico fought the United States alongside Germany.
PURPLE’s cipher mechanism used which component?
Unlike rotor machines, PURPLE used telephone-style stepping switches to produce changing substitution alphabets.
PURPLE primarily encrypted what kind of Japanese messages?
PURPLE protected high-level diplomatic traffic; Japan’s military services used separate systems for military communications.
Which U.S. military branch first recruited Navajo speakers for a World War II code program?
Philip Johnston proposed the idea to the Marines in 1942, leading to the first 29 Navajo recruits.