Noreen, or BID 590, was an off-line

one-time tape In cryptography, the one-time pad (OTP) is an encryption technique that cannot be cracked, but requires the use of a single-use pre-shared key that is not smaller than the message being sent. In this technique, a plaintext is paired with a rand ...

cipher machine of British origin.

Usage

As well as being used by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Noreen was used by

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It was widely used in diplomatic stations. According to the display note on a surviving unit publicly displayed at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...

in the

, the system was predominantly used "by the foreign office in British embassies overseas where the electricity supply was unreliable." Usage lasted from the mid-1960s through 1990.

Compatibility

It was completely compatible with

Rockex Rockex, or Telekrypton, was an offline one-time tape Vernam cipher machine known to have been used by Britain and Canada from 1943. It was developed by Canadian electrical engineer Benjamin deForest Bayly, working during the war for British Secur ...

Power Supply

The units were powered by two batteries of six and twelve volts respectively, though some were known to have been powered by mains.

Other uses of the name "Noreen"

* Noreen was the name of a wooden dragger that was acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II and converted into the minesweeper USS ''Heath Hen'' (AMc-6). * Noreen is a common name in the Americas, Ireland, Scotland, and the Middle East. Also spelt Naureen, Noirin and Nowrin (نورين). In

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, the word means "luminous"'. In Ireland and Scotland, 'Noreen' is the anglicized version of 'Nóirín', which is the diminutive of '

Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

External links

Jerry Proc's page on Noreen

Noreen on Crypto Museum website

Noreen Noreen, or BID 590, was an off-line one-time tape cipher machine of British origin. Usage As well as being used by the United Kingdom, Noreen was used by Canada. It was widely used in diplomatic stations. According to the display note on a ...

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