The Dundee Society was a society of graduates of CA-400, a
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
course in
cryptology
Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
devised by
Lambros D. Callimahos, which included the
Zendian Problem (a practical exercise in
traffic analysis
Traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication, it can be performed even when the messages are encrypted. In general, the greater the number of messages observe ...
and
cryptanalysis).
The class was held once a year, and new members were inducted into the Society upon completion of the class. The Society was founded in the mid-1950s and continued on after Callimahos' retirement from NSA in 1976. The last CA-400 class was held at NSA in 1979, formally closing the society's membership rolls.
The society took its name from an empty jar of
Dundee Marmalade that Callimahos kept on his desk for use as a pencil caddy. Callimahos came up with the society's name while trying to schedule a luncheon for former CA-400 students at the
Ft. Meade Officers' Club; being unable to use either the course name or the
underlying government agency's name for security reasons, he spotted the ceramic Dundee jar and decided to use "The Dundee Society" as the cover name for the luncheon reservation.
CA-400 students were presented with ceramic
Dundee Marmalade jars at the close of the course as part of the induction ceremony into the Dundee Society. When Dundee switched from ceramic to glass jars, Callimahos would still present graduates with ceramic Dundee jars, but the jars were then collected back up for use in next year's induction ceremony, and members were "encouraged" to seek out Dundee jars for their own collections if they wished to have a permanent token of induction.
See also
*
American Cryptogram Association
The American Cryptogram Association (ACA) is an American non-profit organization devoted to the hobby of cryptography, with an emphasis on types of codes, ciphers, and cryptograms that can be solved either with pencil and paper, or with computers, ...
*
National Cryptologic School
The National Cryptologic School (NCS) is a school within the National Security Agency that provides training to members of the Intelligence Community.
The National Cryptologic School is a Cryptologic Training School within the National Securit ...
References
National Security Agency
Cryptography organizations
Cryptologic education
Clubs and societies in the United States
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