The ACA


The American Cryptogram Association (ACA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the hobby and art of cryptanalysis -- that is, learning to break ciphers.

Join Us!

Now is an ideal time to join the ACA. While supplies last, new members will receive a three CD-ROM set containing the contents of The Cryptogram from 1932 to 2002. For information on membership benefits and details on how to join see Membership.

    

News

The member area is now password protected. The username is ACA and the password is the first 7 CIPHER TEXT characters of the A1 cipher text found in the latest issue of The Cryptogram. As an alternate method of entry, you may use the username ACAPREV along with the corresponding first seven characters of the A1 CIPHER TEXT from the previous issue of The Cryptogram. Please enter the passwords in lower case without spaces or punctuation.

Win a German World War 2 Enigma machine. The details of the contest are in the MA2007 CM page 14. You need the book Can You Crack the Enigma Code , by Richard Belfield. The book is not for sale in the USA. It is available in Canada and can be ordered from Chapters.ca for $23.46 Canadian dollars, (hardcover copy) plus shipping.

THE RAT has made available for ACA members a program called Conmaker. It is designed for Windows users to easily create and submit cons to the ACA column editors. If interested, go to the Members Area / Downloads and get your copy.

   

Events

ACA Convention 2009

The 2009 Convention will be in Canada -- Niagara Falls. The hostess will be CONFUOCO.

No dates or other information available at this time.

Symposium on Cryptologic History

The Center for Cryptologic History announces a call for papers for its biennial Symposium on Cryptologic History. The Symposium will occur on 15-16 October 2009 in Laurel, Maryland, at the Johns-Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The theme for the Symposium will be "Global Perspectives on Cryptologic History." While all proposals relating to any aspect of cryptologic history will be considered, presentations from international scholars are of special interest. The deadline for submission of proposals, to include a minimum two-page topic prospectus, a brief source list, and a biography, is 10 January 2009. Selected presenters will receive notification by 1 March 2009. For further information contact Dr. Kent Sieg, Symposium coordinator, at 301-688-2336 or kgsieg@nsa.gov.