[Svartalfiar]

The claim that this was the “intelligence coup of the century” is a bit overblown. I would rank

1. the breaking of JN25, the Japanese naval codes - early 1900s

2. the breaking of the German Enigma codes - early 1900s

3. the Venona tapes - early 1900s

as, arguably, of more importance than the operations of Crypto AG.

Those are debateable on whether or not they even apply. I didn't read the full article, but the excerpt does mention stuff going into the 21st century. So, if we're only talking 21st and not 20th, none of your bullet points matter ;)

[riverdawg]

I didn’t mean to downplay these new revelations. However, the role of the code-breaking success in defeating the Japanese and the Germans and facilitating the demise of the Soviet Union pales in comparison to the impact of the program discussed in the article (in my humble opinion).

In any event, with regard to when these intelligence operations occurred, according to the article (which I read) CryptoAG began during WWII, so there was almost half a (20th) century of intelligence collected by them. The formal sharing relationship between CryptoAG and the CIA and the BND began in 1970. Also, of the the three *mid-1900s* (not the early 1900s) intelligence coups I mentioned, the Venona project continued until 1980.