• EDUCATE
    EDUCATE

    ...our citizens to be cyber smart, and develop pathways for the future cyber workforce.

  • ENGAGE
    ENGAGE

    ...and convene partners to address emerging cyber and cryptologic issues.

  • COMMEMORATE
    COMMEMORATE

    ...our cryptologic history & those who served within the cryptologic community.

THE NCF VISION

Advance the nation’s interest in cyber and cryptology through leadership, education, and partnerships.

1960: Inventor Gilbert Vernam died.

Friday, February 7, 2020

7 February 1960: Gilbert Vernam, pioneer inventor of machine encryption, died.

The Vernam Cipher is named after Gilbert Sandford Vernam who, in 1917, invented the polyalphabetic stream cipher and later co-invented the one-time pad cipher. His patent was filed in 1918 and is, according to the NSA, quite possibly one of the most important in cryptographic history. What we now call one-time pad encryption (OTP) was patented by Gilbert Vernam at AT&T in 1919 and enhanced by Captain Joseph Mauborgne of the Army’s Signal Corps. The earliest military application was reported by the German Kurzwellenpanorama magazine in World War I. Later it was employed by the BBC to send coded messages to Special Operations Executive agents abroad.

The largest application of OTP has been on number stations; these unlicensed, mysterious shortwave radio stations began broadcasting during the Cold War. The Vernam Cipher has also been applied to modern computing.

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  • The first hire at SIS was Annie Louise Newkirk, hired as a cryptographic clerk. Interesting note, when a phone call came in for someone working in the vault room, Ms. Newkirk would buzz the back room using a Morse code equivalent for the first initial of the individual's name. In honor of Women's History Month - click to learn about more female cryptologic pioneers!

About Us

The NCF's Vision is to strengthen trust in the digital ecosystem.

The NCF Mission: Advance the nation’s interest in cyber and cryptology as we:

Educate citizens to be cyber smart individuals, 

Develop pathways for the future cyber and cryptologic workforce, 

Engage and convene partners to address emerging cyber and cryptologic issues and, 

Commemorate our cryptologic history and those who served. 

The Foundation provides exceptional cryptologic programs, encourages young minds to learn about cryptology and to explore cyber-related career opportunities, hosts educational, cryptology-related exhibits at various community events, and honors the people— past and present—whose contributions to our national security protect and make possible our way of life.

The NCF also provides needed support to the National Cryptologic Museum (NCM), the first public museum in the U.S. Intelligence Community. Located adjacent to the National Security Agency (NSA) in Maryland, the NCM houses a unique and priceless collection of artifacts that represent our Nation's history in code making and code breaking, as well as a world class library of cryptologic media. The NCF has acquired rare and invaluable artifacts for the Museum and helps to support new educational and interactive exhibits.

The NCF is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Learn more about our MISSION, VISION, and VALUES.