Reflector (cipher machine)
Encyclopedia
A reflector, in cryptology, is a component of some rotor cipher machines
, such as the Enigma machine
, that sends electrical impulses that have reached it from the machine's rotors
, back in reverse order through those rotors.
Rotor machine
In cryptography, a rotor machine is an electro-mechanical device used for encrypting and decrypting secret messages. Rotor machines were the cryptographic state-of-the-art for a prominent period of history; they were in widespread use in the 1920s–1970s...
, such as the Enigma machine
Enigma machine
An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
, that sends electrical impulses that have reached it from the machine's rotors
Rotor machine
In cryptography, a rotor machine is an electro-mechanical device used for encrypting and decrypting secret messages. Rotor machines were the cryptographic state-of-the-art for a prominent period of history; they were in widespread use in the 1920s–1970s...
, back in reverse order through those rotors.