Major Friedrich Wilhelm Kasiski (29 November 1805–22 May 1881) was a Prussian infantry officer, cryptographer and archeologist. Kasiski was born in Schlochau, West Prussia (now Czluchow, Poland). Major is a military rank denoting an officer of mid-level command status. ... November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... May 22 is the 142nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (143rd in leap years). ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: PrÅ«sa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme, First World War. ... In military organizations, an officer is a member of the service who holds a position of responsibility. ... Pre-19th century Leone Battista Alberti, polymath/universal genius, inventor of polyalphabetic substitution (see frequency analysis for the significance of this -- missed by most for a long time and dumbed down in the Vigenère cipher), and what may have been the first mechanical encryption aid. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... One of four districts of East Prussia in 1920 - 1938. ... Człuchów (Polish: Człuchów; German: Schlochau, pronunciation, IPA: ʧwuxuf,), is a town in Middle Pomerania region, north-western Poland with some 10,000 inhabitants. ...

Military service

Kasiski enlisted in East Prussia's 33rd Infantry Regiment on 20 March 1823 at the age of 17. In May 1824, he was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant, and eight months later was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in February 1825. It took fourteen years to earn his next promotion, when, in May 1839, he advanced to the rank of First Lieutenant. His next advancement was quicker, promoted to Captain in November 1842. Kasiski finally retired from active service with the rank of Major on 17 February 1852. East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... A regiment is a military unit, larger than a company and smaller than a division. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1824 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Military rank, or simply rank, is a system of grading seniority and command within military organizations. ... United States Master Sergeant insignia U.S. Army Master Sergeant insignia U.S. Marine Corps Master Sergeant insignia U.S. Air Force A Master Sergeant is: the eighth enlisted rank in the United States Army, just above Sergeant First Class and below 1st Sergeant. ... In law a commission is a patent which allows a person to take possession of a state office and carry out official acts and duties. ... Second Lieutenant is the lowest commissioned rank in many armed forces. ... 1825 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Promotion may mean: Promotion (chess), a term used in the game of chess Promotion (marketing), a marketing term Promotion (rank), an increase in position in a hierarchy Promotion (academic), German academic degree that is roughly equivalent to the Ph. ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... First Lieutenant is a military rank. ... Captain is both a nautical term and a rank in various uniformed organizations. ... 1842 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Major is a military rank denoting an officer of mid-level command status. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1852 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Between 1860 and 1868 he was the commander of a National Guard battalion. 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Symbol of the Austrian 14th Armoured Battalion in NATO code In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ...

Cryptography

In 1863, Kasiski published a 95-page book on cryptography, Die Geheimschriften und die Dechiffrierkunst (German, "Secret writing and the Art of Deciphering"). This was the first published account of a procedure for attacking polyalphabetic substitution ciphers, especially the Vigenère cipher (although it is possible Charles Babbage was already aware of a similar method but had kept it secret). The method relied on the analysis of gaps between repeated fragments in the ciphertext; such analysis can give hints as to the length of the key used. This technique is known as Kasiski examination. 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... The German Lorenz cipher machine Cryptography or cryptology is a field of mathematics and computer science concerned with information security and related issues, particularly encryption. ... Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, hidden, and analýein, to loosen or to untie) is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information which is normally required to do so. ... A polyalphabetic cipher is any cipher based on substitution, using multiple substitution alphabets. ... The Vigenère cipher is named for Blaise de Vigenère (pictured), although Giovan Batista Belaso had invented the cipher earlier. ... Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English mathematician, analytical philosopher, mechanical engineer and (proto-) computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer. ... This article is about algorithms for encryption and decryption. ... A key is a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm. ... In cryptanalysis, the Kasiski examination or Kasiski test is a method of attacking polyalphabetic substitution ciphers, such as Vigenere ciphers. ...

The significance of Kasiski's cryptanalytic work was not widely realised at the time, and he turned his mind to archaeology instead. The later years of his life were spent at Neustettin (Szczecinek); the 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica cited a scholarly article by Kasiski in its entry on the town. Historian David Kahn notes, "Kasiski died on May 22, 1881, almost certainly without realizing that he had wrought a revolution in cryptology" (The Codebreakers). Archaeology or archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Szczecinek (Kashubian: Nowé Sztetëno, German: Neustettin) is a town in Middle Pomerania, north-western Poland with some 40,000 inhabitants. ... 1913 advertisement for the 11th edition, with the slogan When in doubt — look it up in the Encyclopædia Britannica The Encyclopædia Britannica (properly spelt with æ, the ae-ligature) was first published in 1768–1771 as The Britannica was an important early English-language general encyclopedia, and is still... A historian is a person who studies history. ... David Kahn is a US historian, journalist and writer. ... The Codebreakers - The Story of Secret Writing (ISBN 0684831309) is a book written by David Kahn in 1967 chronicling the history of cryptology from ancient Egypt to the time of its writing. ...

References

• David Kahn, The Codebreakers - The Story of Secret Writing, revised ed, Scribner, 1996. pp207–209.
• M. W. Bowers (pseudonym Zembie), "Major F. W. Kasiski — Cryptologist", The Cryptogram, Vol. XXXI(3) (January-February 1964) pp 53,58-59.

David Kahn is a US historian, journalist and writer. ... The Codebreakers - The Story of Secret Writing (ISBN 0684831309) is a book written by David Kahn in 1967 chronicling the history of cryptology from ancient Egypt to the time of its writing. ... A pseudonym (Greek: false name) is a fictitious name used by an individual as an alternative to his or her legal name. ... A cryptogram is a type of word puzzle popularly printed in some newspapers and magazines. ...

See also

• List of cryptographers
• Topics in cryptography