“Codebreaking and Codemaking Down Under” – with John Blaxland and Clare Birgin

Summary John Blaxland (X, LinkedIn) and Clare Birgin (Wikipedia, LinkedIn) join Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss Australian codebreaking. John and Clare are coauthors of the new book Revealing Secrets. What You’ll Learn Intelligence

The importance of SIGINT

Codebreaking in Australian intelligence

Australia’s role in WWII and the Cold War

The advent and evolution of cyber

Reflections

Strategic defense and offense

The power, and danger, of communication

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week "What I've noticed with the Australians, and I think it's similar in the other the other Five Eyes countries, these people tend to be quite patriotic to do [Signals Intelligence]. They want to, they love their country, and it also seems to preserve very good qualities.” -Clare Birgin.

Resources SURFACE SKIM *Spotlight Resource*

Revealing Secrets: An unofficial history of Australian Signals intelligence and the advent of cyber, Clare Birgin and John Blaxland (University of New South Wales Press, 2023) *SpyCasts*

I Helped Solve the Final Zodiac Killer Cipher with David Oranchak (2024)

Australian National Day Special: Intelligence Down Under with John Blaxland (2024)

My Father the Navajo Code-Talker with Laura Tohe (2023)

CYBER AUGUST: “So, You Want to Be a Codebreaker?” with Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

Australia's Involvement in WWII, Australian Broadcasting Service, YouTube (2020) [4 min. video]

A short history of cyber espionage, D. O’Brien, Medium (2017) [Short article]

Signals Intelligence (SINGINT) Overview, National Security Agency (n.d.) [Short article]

DEEPER DIVE Primary Sources

WMD Report (2005)

The ANZUS Treaty (1951)

Role and effectiveness of Signals Intelligence in World War II (1945)

The Atlantic Charter (1941)

The Zimmerman Telegram (1917)

Oral History by Ruby Boye Jones (n.d.)

*Wildcard Resource*

Here’s a challenge – For their 75th Anniversary in 2022, the Australian Signals Directorate released a limited edition coin with multiple layers of code to crack on both sides.

Think you can solve it? Check out the link above and test your code-cracking skills.

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