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