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I think use of other languages could be described as a form of cryptography. It's been done before as well - see the Navajo code talkers in WWII[1], who were ve

I think use of other languages could be described as a form of cryptography. It's been done before as well - see the Navajo code talkers in WWII[1], who were very effective in terms of speed, and who the Japanese found difficult to even transcribe. Of course, this relies on the language being obscure, and many more languages are well documented now than in the 1940s. >it should likewise be trivial to crack any remaining unknown ancient scripts That doesn't follow. Part of successfully decrypting a message is knowing when you have the right answer. That doesn't apply if you're looking at a limited dataset (or claytablet set), and you have no idea about the context the texts were written in. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker

dogma1138 9y ago
Navajo code talked used code on top of the obscure language the Japanese eventually figured out that it was Navajo and so Native American soldiers were specifically targeted both on the battlefield and in PoW camps despite the vast majority of them not being able to speak Navajo and the majority of those who did, did not have knowledge of the code.
- sounds 9y ago
  I dug up the source on this one, there was basically only one opportunity the Japanese really had: https://web.archive.org/web/20131109191414/http://www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/articles/navcode.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20131109191414/http://www.yvwiiu...
  - BrandoElFollito 9y ago
    There is also a Wikipedia link in another comment
orblivion 9y ago
This feels like it flies in the face of the usual advice for modern crypto. Don't try to be clever. Don't roll your own system. But it sounds like a novel language, and a lack of context, could actually cause headaches for those coming after you.
- Piskvorrr 9y ago
  With the possible exception of OTP, modern (sic) crypto was essentially nascent at that time (Enigma), there was no option but to roll your own. Your advice comes from a corpus of 70 years of collective experience which did not exist 70 years ago.
  - orblivion 9y ago
    I think when I said this I was assuming that the implication was that it would be useful even today. I understand that crypto was much different back then.
- mattkrause 9y ago
  Keep in mind that it was the early 1940s—-there weren’t many options other than rolling your own. The code talkers were literally 100x faster than the available machines and much more “portable” and robust. It also wasn’t just haphazardly deployed like a DIY crypto system inside some app might be. There were tests and working groups and stuff like that.

dogma1138 9y ago

Navajo code talked used code on top of the obscure language the Japanese eventually figured out that it was Navajo and so Native American soldiers were specifically targeted both on the battlefield and in PoW camps despite the vast majority of them not being able to speak Navajo and the majority of those who did, did not have knowledge of the code.

sounds 9y ago
I dug up the source on this one, there was basically only one opportunity the Japanese really had: https://web.archive.org/web/20131109191414/http://www.yvwiiusdinvnohii.net/articles/navcode.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20131109191414/http://www.yvwiiu...
- BrandoElFollito 9y ago
  There is also a Wikipedia link in another comment

orblivion 9y ago

This feels like it flies in the face of the usual advice for modern crypto. Don't try to be clever. Don't roll your own system. But it sounds like a novel language, and a lack of context, could actually cause headaches for those coming after you.

Piskvorrr 9y ago
With the possible exception of OTP, modern (sic) crypto was essentially nascent at that time (Enigma), there was no option but to roll your own. Your advice comes from a corpus of 70 years of collective experience which did not exist 70 years ago.
- orblivion 9y ago
  I think when I said this I was assuming that the implication was that it would be useful even today. I understand that crypto was much different back then.
mattkrause 9y ago
Keep in mind that it was the early 1940s—-there weren’t many options other than rolling your own. The code talkers were literally 100x faster than the available machines and much more “portable” and robust. It also wasn’t just haphazardly deployed like a DIY crypto system inside some app might be. There were tests and working groups and stuff like that.