rotor cipher machine

A rotor cipher machine is an electromechanical device used for data encryption. It utilizes a series of rotating disks, or rotors, each with electrical contacts. These rotors are hardwired to create complex, one-to-one connections, effectively performing a monoalphabetic substitution. When cascaded, multiple rotors can generate highly complex polyalphabetic substitutions.12

These machines became prominent after World War I and were extensively used by both the Allied and Axis powers during World War II, with the German Enigma machine being a notable example. The core principle involves transforming plaintext into ciphertext by substituting letters through a series of electrical pathways created by the rotors' positions and internal wiring.123