Security
Security of the M-209 was good for its time, but it was by no means perfect. As with the Lorenz Electric teletypewriter cipher machine (codenamed Tunny by the Allies), if a codebreaker got hold of two overlapping sequences, he would have a fingerhold into the M-209 settings, and its operation had some distinctive quirks that could be exploited. As of early 1943, German cryptanalysts were able to read some M-209 messages. It was, however, considered adequate for tactical use and was still used by the US Army during the Korean War.
US researcher Dennis Ritchie has described a 1970s collaboration with James Reeds and Robert Morris on a ciphertext-only attack on the M-209 that could solve messages of at least 2000–2500 letters. Ritchie relates that, after discussions with the NSA, the authors decided not to publish it, as they were told the principle was applicable to machines then still in use by foreign governments.
Read more about this topic: M-209
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“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
—Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution (1791)