Hedy Lamarr: The Hollywood Star Who Engineered Modern Wireless Security

When Hedy Lamarr wasn't captivating audiences in 1940s Hollywood films, she was solving one of WWII's toughest engineering challenges. Together with composer George Antheil, Lamarr patented a "Secret Communication System" in 1942 that used rapidly shifting radio frequencies to prevent enemy forces from jamming Allied torpedo signals. This technique—now known as frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)—laid the groundwork for virtually all modern secure wireless protocols.

The Inventive Breakthrough

Lamarr's design synchronized a miniaturized player-piano mechanism with radio transmitters, enabling signals to "hop" across 88 frequencies (matching piano keys). This made transmissions appear as random noise to interceptors—a revolutionary approach to anti-jamming and encryption. Though the U.S. Navy initially shelved the technology, its principles later became:

• Core to military secure communications during the Cuban Missile Crisis
• The basis of Bluetooth's interference avoidance
• Foundational to WiFi's resilience in crowded networks
• Embedded in GPS and cellular technologies

Why Lamarr’s Legacy Matters Today

Lamarr's work exemplifies how innovation thrives at interdisciplinary intersections. Her understanding of torpedo vulnerabilities (gained through wartime conversations) merged with Antheil's musical synchronization expertise—proving that diverse perspectives drive technological leaps. Yet, recognition came decades late: The Electronic Frontier Foundation only honored her in 1997 as patents expired.

Modern developers inherit her ethos: security through obscurity remains central to protocols like WPA3 and zero-trust architectures. As Thales Group notes, Lamarr’s story highlights that breakthrough engineering often emerges from unexpected sources—a lesson for an industry still grappling with diversity in tech creation. Her frequency-hopping patent, once dismissed, now underpins the invisible infrastructure of our connected world.

Source: Thales Group