Black Chamber

The Black Chamber was the first cryptanalytic institution of the United States in times of peace and a forerunner of the National Security Agency ( NSA). It is also known under the name Cipher Bureau.

History

The Black Chamber was founded after the end of the First World War, under the direction of Herbert Yardley. Yardley was previously commander of the cryptographic section of the MI -8 (Military Intelligence), which was dissolved after the end of the First World War. Disguised as a code company was founded Black Chamber of the U.S. Army and the Department of State for the primary purpose of breaking of diplomatic communication. A particular success was achieved during the Washington Naval Conference of 1922, when it became the news of the participants, mainly Japan to decipher.

Ten years after the founding of the Black Chamber was dissolved. The then Secretary of State, Henry L. Stimson, expressed the opinion: " Gentlemen do not read each other 's mail. " Therefore, the funding was given by the Foreign Ministry and the Army alone would not fund the agency.

The term Black Chamber goes back to Yardley. He wrote the 1931 book The American Black Chamber.