Blog Posts

In December 2023, we released "CrypTool 2 - 2023.2", the second release version this year. The last previous version of CrypTool 2 was released in June 2023. Since June of this year, we have enriched CrypTool 2 with new components, improved existing templates and fixed various bugs. In the area of modern cryptography, we have integrated the Simplified AES cipher. As

After four years, the student crypto event sponsored by Deutsche Bank took place again on December 8, 2023 at the Eichendorff School in Kelkheim. This time, the topic was historical and modern cryptography as well as blockchains and quantum cryptography. You can also find pictures of the event on Deutsche Bank's LinkedIn page.

After a long break, our team was finally able to present the topic of cryptology to interested students again. We were guests of the Youth Science Club: »The Youth Science Club gives 27 students from the 8th to 10th grade the opportunity to get to know scientific work in depth as part of the early study program at the LMU. The

In June 2023, we released version "2023.1" which is the first release of the year. The previous CT2 version was released in December 2022. Since the December version, we have introduced some interesting new ciphers, such as GRANIT 160, a hand cipher used by GDR spies, as well as the Typex cipher machine. Another new component is RAPPOR. RAPPOR stands for

For Mary Stuart researchers, it's probably the biggest cryptography discovery in recent years. Our colleagues George Lasry, Norbert Biermann and Satoshi Tomokiyo have found over 50 previously undeciphered letters written by Mary Stuart to Michel de Castelnau Mauvissière, the French ambassador to England. All of the letters were in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris. The researchers successfully

In December 2022 we released "CrypTool 2 – 2022.1", the first release this year. The last CrypTool 2 release before was published in December 2021. Over the year, we implemented several new classical cipher components (e.g. the Mexican Army cipher disk or the Bifid and Trifid cipher), machine cipher components (all mechanical Hagelin ciphers in one component), as well as (re-)implemented

In December 2021 we released "CrypTool 2 – 2021.2", the second release this year. The last CrypTool 2 release was published in May 2021. Probably the most interesting new implementation of CrypTool 2 is the blockchain simulation. With the blockchain component and its templates, you can simulate a blockchain. The blockchain simulation allows you to create blocks, transactions, addresses and corresponding

CrypTool 1.4.42 was published on December 21, 2021. Compared to CrypTool 1.4.41, this version contains a range of small bug fixes and improvements for CrypTool 1 (CT1). The open-source project CrypTool (CT) creates the most widespread e-learning programs for cryptography and cryptanalysis. The CT programs are used at many schools and universities worldwide, but also in companies and administrations to make understanding

In May 2021, we published the release "2021.1", which is the first one this year and a major functional update. The last CT2 release was published in April 2020. A YouTube video showing the changes in the new version can be watched here: What is New in the CrypTool 2 Release 2021.1? In this new release of CT2, the Workspace Manager allows

Version 1.0 of JCrypTool was released today, November 30th, 2020. It is intended for beginners and experts in cryptography alike. JCrypTool is available in English and German. Already bundled are over 100 plugins that cover classical and modern cryptography. View a full list of included cryptography features.     Visit the JCrypTool download page The first milestone of JCrypTool was published already in 2007

In the course of 2020, the CrypTool portal was comprehensively renewed once again. The website at www.cryptool.org was originally created in 2003 for CrypTool 1 and has been rebuilt into the "CrypTool portal" in 2008 with the addition of CrypTool 2 and JCrypTool. 2009 it has been extended by CrypTool-Online. The previous system The last comprehensive renewal took place in 2016. Since

The next edition of the CODEBREAKERS International Cryptology Game is just starting! It mixes short lectures about the secrets of the ENIGMA cipher machine with interesting challenges. The challenges are presented in 3 levels (Trial, Basic, and Advanced). For the Basic and Advanced levels, teams are invited to participate; for the Trial level also single persons can participate. So this is

The RSA algorithm for public-key cryptography is based on the presumed difficulty of factoring large bi-prime integers, the factoring problem. However, as pointed out in Lenstra et al \[^1] it is possible, given a set of moduli, to factor some of them by finding shared primes. This way the factoring problem is bypassed using a simple greatest common divisor (gcd)

In April 2020, we published the first release of CrypTool 2 (CT2) this year, named "2020.1". This is a major functional update (compared to the last release "2018.3"). In this release, we improved the performance of the Workspace Manager significantly as well as of CT2 in general. Additionally, we updated several components and fixed bugs. Furthermore, we improved several templates, the

The CrypTool 2 (CT2) project is active on several social media platforms. On the one hand, there has been the Facebook page for several years, which reached 1000 subscribers this weekend. On the other hand, there is our YouTube channel since October, which has reached more than 100 subscribers in parallel. On the official YouTube channel of the CT2 project, every week

On November 8, 2019, the Student Crypto sponsored by Deutsche Bank took place for the ninth time at the Kelkheimer Eichendorffschule. The students of the two mathematics labs of EDS and the students of the computer science basic course of the Main-Taunus-Schule Hofheim took part. With new tasks and CrypTool 2, teachers and students were introduced to the science of

End of October 2019, many members of the CrypTool team as well as invited guests met in Munich to celebrate the 20th+ anniversary of the CrypTool project. The event took place at the research institute CODE of the Universität der Bundeswehr München (University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich) and was organized by the working group "Datenschutz und Compliance" of

The contest runs from October 21st to end of November 2019. This game mixes short lectures about the secrets of the ENIGMA cipher machine with interesting challenges. Registration is open already under THE CODEBREAKERS. The challenges are presented in 3 levels (Trial, Basic and Adventure). For the Basic and Adventure levels, teams are invited to participate; for the Trial level also single persons

JCrypTool weekly builds are based on the latest Eclipse version 2019-06 since July 2019. Since the latest weekly builds since July 2019, JCrypTool is based on the latest Eclipse version 2019-06 and benefits from all its improvements. The next stable version of JCrypTool will be based on this Eclipse version as well. All JCrypTool downloads are available on our releases page.

The new release version of CrypTool 2.1 was published on Dec 19, 2018. This "Xmas version" is available in 3 languages (German, English, and Russian). It contains many small improvements and a direct connection to the Swedish DECODE database for encrypted, historical documents. The open-source project CrypTool (CT) creates the most widespread free e-learning programs for cryptography and cryptanalysis. The CT programs

On 2018-11-09 the Student Crypto sponsored by Deutsche Bank took place for the eighth time in the Kelkheimer Eichendorffschule. At the Student Crypto, teachers and students of the upper school could immerse themselves in the science of secret language (cryptology) and try out the procedures themselves, both manually and with the free tools CrypTool 1 and CrypTool 2.

A new release of CrypTool 1 was published on March 27, 2018. This mature version is available in 6 languages (German, English, Spanish, Polish, Serbian, and French). Compared to 1.4.40, it contains many small bug fixes and corrections (especially for functions using Animal, Flash, HTML, and PDF). The open-source project CrypTool (CT) creates the most widespread e-learning programs for cryptography and cryptanalysis.

On 2018-04-28 the sixth Student Crypto took place at the University of Kassel. As in the previous five years, the Student Crypto were again a cooperation between the Department 16 Electrical Engineering/Computer Science of the University of Kassel and the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen (SFN). On the Student Crypto, students and teachers of the upper school could learn the science of the

On 2018-01-29 a Student Crypto took place in Hanau at the Karl-Rehbein-Schule.

On 2017-11-03 the Student Crypto, sponsored by Deutsche Bank, took place for the seventh time in the Kelkheimer Eichendorffschule. At the Student Crypto, teachers and their high school students could learn the science of the secret language (cryptology) and try it out for themselves.

On 2017-10-05 the fifth Student Crypto took place at the University of Kassel. As in the previous four years, the Student Crypto were again a cooperation between the Department 16 Electrical Engineering/Computer Science of the University of Kassel and the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen (SFN). On the Student Crypto, students and teachers of the upper school could learn the science of secret language

A new release of CrypTool 1 was published on September 21, 2017. This version is available in 6 languages (German, English, Spanish, Polish, Serbian, and French), and it contains many bug fixes and corrections. The open-source project CrypTool (CT) creates the most widespread, free e-learning programs for cryptography and cryptanalysis. The CT programs are used at many schools and universities, but also

On 2016-11-25 the Student Crypto, sponsored by Deutsche Bank, took place for the sixth time in the Kelkheimer Eichendorffschule. At the Student Crypto, teachers and their high school students could learn the science of secret language (cryptology) and try it out for themselves.

The ZKM will perform the recently released interview film "A Good American" by Fritz Moser on 16 December 2016 in Karlsruhe. Details of the event can be found here: http://zkm.de/event/2016/12/sicherheit-oder-datenschutz-ein-falscher-gegensatz Following the documentary "Citizenfour" by Laura Poitras (2014) and the feature film "Snowden" by Oliver Stone (2016), this section now describes how the introduction of mass surveillance tools came about from the

The website CryptoPrograms http://www.cryptoprograms.com is dedicated to create and solve classical ciphers online. New on this site are analyzers for solving classical ciphers without any knowledge of the keyword and, in many cases, the key length. Routines for solving around 40 cipher types are provided.

JCrypTool 1.0.0 Release Candidate 8 is available for download! This release contains a lot of bugfixes, feature enhancements and new crypto plug-ins. Thanks to all our contributors! All changes are listed on the Core Issues and on the Crypto Issues pages.

The Cyber Security Challenge Germany (CSCG) is a hacker competition for pupils and students. Starting on 2 May 2016, the young hackers face the 12 online challenges, which have to be solved by the beginning of August. For each challenge the participants can get points. The best 10 pupils and the best 10 students are qualified for the finals in Berlin

On 2016-04-18 the fourth Student Crypto took place at the University of Kassel. As in the previous three years, the Student Crypto were again a cooperation between the Department 16 Electrical Engineering/Computer Science of the University of Kassel and the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen (SFN). On the Student Crypto, students and teachers of the upper school could learn the science of secret

To conclude the "Global Control and Censorship" exhibition, the Karlsruhe IT Security Initiative (german: "Karlsruher IT-Sicherheitsinitiative", KA-IT-Si), the Competence Center for Applied Security Technology (german: "Kompetenzzentrum für angewandte Sicherheitstechnologie", KASTEL), and the CyberForum e.V. invite you to the 4th season of the Anti-Price Party at the ZKM Karlsruhe on Friday, April 29, 2016 from 4 p.m. (admission free). In addition to

The exhibition is for young and old. It opens eyes to worldwide surveillance and censorship, and offers Edward Snowden a fully furnished room, if German politicians and judges have the courage to grant a persecuted and worldwide awarded whistleblower the right to stay. Start Sat, 03.10.2015, end Sun, 07.08.2016.

On 2015-11-06 the Student Crypto sponsored by Deutsche Bank took place for the fifth time in the Kelkheimer Eichendorffschule. On the Student Crypto, teachers and their high school students can learn the science of secret language (cryptology) and try it out for themselves.

On 1st of June 2015 the first of 6 tasks starts on the Enigma level. For three weeks two times per week new documents with tasks are published. Most help to solve the tasks. For non-experts there are also two easier levels. During the game everyone can find out what methods were used to beat Enigma as well as try to break

On April 20, 2015, the third Student Crypto took place at the University of Kassel with over 80 participants. Like last year, this Student Crypto is a cooperation project between the Department 16 Electrical Engineering/Computer Science of the University of Kassel and the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen (SFN). At the Student Crypto, students and teachers of the upper school can learn the

The release version of CrypTool 2.0 was released on 20th Aug 2014. We would be happy if many of you use it for teaching, self-study, education and awareness and give us feedback.

A level X challenge in MysteryTwister by Klaus Schmeh using the double-column transposition cipher withstood a long time against cryptanalysis efforts. Nevertheless, it was solved in November 2013 by George Lasry. The according attack against the double-column transposition cipher was just described in the journal Cryptologia and is now implemented in CrypTool 2, based on the method presented in the article

On 2014-04-29, another Student Crypto took place at the University of Kassel. Like last year, this Student Crypto was a cooperation project between the Department 16 Electrical Engineering/Computer Science of the University of Kassel and the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen (SFN). At the Student Crypto, students and teachers of the upper school can learn the science of secret language (cryptology) and try it

The 10th Beta of CrypTool 2 was released on 19th October 2013. You are cordially invited to test and give feedback. Final version of CT 2 is planned to be published in July 2014.

On 2013-11-07 the Student Crypto, sponsored by Deutsche Bank, took place for the third time in the Eichendorff Schule in Kelkheim. At the Student Crypto, teachers and their high school students can learn the science of secret language (cryptology) and try it out for themselves.

Crypdroid - Are apps a good idea? Crypdroid encrypts messages with AES and encodes the ciphertext in a way that it could be sent as a normal text message. It is compatible with the dedicated tool within CT2. Smartphone owners visiting the CrypTool project can find cryptographic algorithms on the CrypTool-Online website. This website is written in HTML and JavaScript supported by

On 2013-04-15, the Student Crypto took place for the first time at the University of Kassel. This Student Crypto is a cooperation project between the Department 16 Electrical Engineering/Computer Science of the University of Kassel and the Schülerforschungszentrum Nordhessen of the University of Kassel, funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation. At the Student Crypto, students and teachers of the upper school

A spyhunt consisting of 9 missions - Along with the new Jazz album of the Henning Wolter Trio there is a free online game Undercover Job. Henning Wolter also is the author of two MTC3 challenges Music Code - Part 1 und Music Code - Part 2.

The 9th Beta of CrypTool 2 was released on 20th December 2012. You are cordially invited to test and give feedback.

The new CrypTool 1.4.31 beta 05 is ready. You are cordially invited to test and give feedback. Final version of CT 1.4.31 is planned to be published mid 2013.

The new CrypTool 1.4.31 beta is ready. This version is now available in 6 languages German, English, Spanish, Polish, Serbian and Greek. We would appreciate if you test this beta in detail and give us feedback. The release version of CT 1.4.31 is scheduled for mid 2014.

On 2012-02-28 - 2012-03-01 the Student Crypt of the bbz in Siegen took place again. At the Student Crypto, teachers and their students of the upper school can learn the science of secret language (cryptology) and try it out for themselves. The Student Crypto took place on three days: on 2013-02-28 the teacher training took place and on 2012-02-29 and

The new CrypTool Portal has been gone live on 12th January 2012.

This course explains the inner workings of cryptographic functions and how to correctly use them. The course starts till end of March 2012 and will last at least 5 weeks. Normally, students have to work through the exercises in the same week the lessons are published. You can find more details at http://www.crypto-class.org/

For CrypTool 1 it is planned to further on release only bugfix versions. The next one is 1.4.31. New features are going into the successors CrypTool 2 and JCrypTool.