Der Firmensitz der ehemaligen Crypto AG im zugerischen Steinhausen produzierte jahrzehntelang Chiffriermaschinen. Der deutsche Auslandsnachrichtendienst BND und die US-amerikanische CIA kauften das Unternehmen 1970 heimlich auf. Sie veranlassten, dass vielen Staaten Maschinen mit einer schwächeren Verschlüsselung geliefert wurden, die von BND und CIA entschlüsselt werden konnten. Zuletzt war dort das Nachfolgeunternehmen Crypto International AG ansässig.

Boris Casear Wilhelm Hagelin (2 July 1892 - 7 September 1983) was a Russia-born Swedish engineer, inventor of cipher machines and businessman. He developed his first cipher machine in 1925, as a colleague of Arvid Gerhard Damm at A.B. Cryptograph in Stockholm (Sweden), of which his father, Karl Wilhelm Hagelin, and the Nobel family were investors. Hagelin eventually founded one of the largest and most successful manufacturers of cipher machines — Crypto AG.

Airbus is to implement a software update for its A330 aircraft following an incident in 2020 where all three primary flight computers failed during landing.

The result was a loss of thrust reversers and autobrake systems and the pilots having to use manual braking to bring the aircraft, a China Airlines A330-302, to a halt just 30 feet before the end of the runway. The incident happened at Taipei Songshan Airport on 14 June 2020. //

COM (Command) and MON (Monitor) is a standard protocol for Airbus Fly By Wire aircraft, with the monitor watchdog switching to another computer (command) in the event inputs diverge outside of acceptability. As our Airbus pilot put it: "Stick monkey (or autopilot) puts in command and clever Franco-German computer monitors input for correctness."

In this instance, the aircraft was shifting from flight to ground law as the pilot was applying the rudder (not particularly unusual, especially if there is crosswind on landing). Since the rudder deflects differently between ground and flight law a conflict occurred and the system was flagged as faulty. Then the same thing cascaded through the second and third FCPCs.

Airbus noted that it was the first triple fault at touchdown since the A330/A340 aircraft had entered service (and the electrical rudder-fitted family had put in 44.3m flight hours up to April 2020).

The immediate action taken was to remind operators of what to do in the event of such a triple failure. Longer term, however, is a software enhancement "to address the root cause."

According to the report, Airbus's modification, which is targeted to arrive by Q3 2022 for the A330-200 and A330-800, Q3 2023 for the A330-300, and mid 2024 for the A330-900, will include:

Decrease of the COM/MON asynchronism level for the flight/ground information treatment
Improvement of the COM/MON rudder order monitoring robustness in case of ground to flight and flight to ground transitions
Higher unitary monitoring robustness during such transitions
Avoid cascading/"domino's" effect that leads to several PRIM fault
The Register asked Airbus for its response to the report, but the aviation giant has yet to comment.

In a world of increasing automation, the incident serves as a reminder of the importance of keeping a human backup in the loop. ®

Rotor-based cipher machine - wanted item

HX-63 was an electromechanical rotor-based cipher machine, introduced in 1964 by Crypto AG in Zug (Switzerland). It features nine electrically wired permutations wheels, or rotors, that have more contacts than the 26 letters of the alphabet. It was patented by Boris Hagelin, and uses an operating principle that is very similar to that of the – also patented – American AFSAM-7 (KL-7).

The image on the right shows the HX-63, which is housed in a molded plastic enclosure. At the front right is the keyboard. The 9 cipher wheels are visible through a narrow window at the top.

The machine was developed during the 1950s, and is mentioned in reports filed by NSA crypto­grapher William Friedman in 1955 and again in 1957 [2]. It is likely though, that it was not finished before 1963, and that it was first sold in 1964 [A]. The first and only customer was the French Army, who ordered 12 units [4]. It is very likely that no more than 15 init were ever made.

Apart from the TKG-35, a joint development of Boris Hagelin and Dr. Edgar Gretener, the HX-63 was first and only rotor-based cipher machine that was ever built by Crypto AG. Around 1964, Crypto AG made the transition to electronic shift-register-based designs, and moved away from (electro)mechanical cipher machines. In 1970, the HX-63 was succeeded by the electronic H-460.

The impacted facility went online in December 2020 and features lithium-ion batteries from LG Energy Solution. Fire crews found scorched battery racks and melted wires.

The penultimate Boeing 747 from El Al’s scheduled passenger service to be retired and had been awaiting recycling in Tel Aviv ever since. “Tel Aviv-Jaffa” is our first official cooperation with El Al and we are thrilled to welcome the carrier to our Aviationtags family as exclusive license partner!

Go, get yours now!

How this gadget figured in the shady Rubicon spy case //

In 1976, during a visit to the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw, I saw an Enigma, the famous German World War II cipher machine. I was fascinated. Some years later, I had the good fortune of visiting the huge headquarters of the cipher machine company Crypto AG (CAG), in Steinhausen, Switzerland, and befriending a high-level cryptographer there. My friend gave me an internal history of the company written by its founder, Boris Hagelin. It mentioned a 1963 cipher machine, the HX-63.

Like the Enigma, the HX-63 was an electromechanical cipher system known as a rotor machine. It was the only electromechanical rotor machine ever built by CAG, and it was much more advanced and secure than even the famous Enigmas. In fact, it was arguably the most secure rotor machine ever built. I longed to get my hands on one, but I doubted I ever would. //

Most professional cryptographers have never heard of it. Yet it was so secure that its invention alarmed William Friedman, one of the greatest cryptanalysts ever and, in the early 1950s, the first chief cryptologist of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). After reading a 1957 Hagelin patent (more on that later), Friedman realized that the HX-63, then under development, was, if anything, more secure than the NSA's own KL-7, then considered unbreakable. During the Cold War, the NSA built thousands of KL-7s, which were used by every U.S. military, diplomatic, and intelligence agency from 1952 to 1968.

The reasons for Friedman's anxiety are easy enough to understand. The HX-63 had about 10^600 possible key combinations; in modern terms, that's equivalent to a 2,000-bit binary key. For comparison, the Advanced Encryption Standard, which is used today to protect sensitive information in government, banking, and many other sectors, typically uses a 128- or a 256-bit key.