Ciphers

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The document discusses many different types of codes and ciphers used throughout history for encryption.

Some examples of codes/ciphers mentioned are the A1Z26 code, Atbash code, Caesar cipher, Rot cipher, ASCII, combination cipher, dice cipher, keyboard code, Morse code, pigpen cipher, Dorabella cipher, phone code, binary code, grid transposition cipher, scytale cipher, braille system.

The Caesar cipher shifts each letter by a set number of places - for example, shifting each letter 3 places makes A become X, B become Y, etc.

Codes & Ciphers

The ASCII is a computer code that is similar to binary. Instead of using


1's and 0's like binary it uses the numbers from 1-256.

The A1Z26 code is a very simple code. As you know there are 26 letters
in the American alphabet so Z would equal 26 because it is the 26th
letter in the alphabet.
A
1

B
2

C
3

D
4

E
5

F
6

G
7

H
8

I
9

J
10

K
11

L
12

M
13

N
14

O
15

P
16

Q
17

R
18

S
19

T
20

U
21

V
22

W
23

X
24

Y
25

Z
26

The Atbash code is just the alphabet backwards. For example A would
equal Z.
A
Z

B
Y

C
X

D
W

E
V

F
U

G
T

H
S

I
R

J
Q

K
P

L
O

M
N

N
M

O
L

P
K

Q
J

R
I

S
H

T
G

U
F

V
E

W
D

X
C

Y
B

Z
A

The Caesar cipher is a code Julius Caesar invented when he mailed


letters. He invented it so if his messenger was robbed of that letter and
the robber wouldn't be able to read it. It is probably one of the simplest
codes ever. It is 3 letters back so A would be X. The Rot Cipher is
almost the same as the Caesar Cipher.
A
X

B
Y

C
Z

D
A

E
B

F
C

G
D

H
E

I
F

J
G

K
H

L
I

M
J

N
K

O
L

P
M

Q
N

R
O

S
P

T
Q

U
R

V
S

W
T

X
U

Y
V

Z
W

A Combination Cipher is a Cipher using 2 or more codes. For example


if you wanted to make the best code ever, you could do Atbash, Caesar
Cipher, Vigernere Cipher, and then A1Z26.

The Dice Cipher is not dice; it's just squares with dots in certain places.

The Keyboard Code is just the order of letters your keyboard.


A
Q

B
W

C
E

D
R

E
T

F
Y

G
U

H
I

I
O

J
P

K
A

L
S

M
D

N
F

O
G

P
H

Q
J

R
K

S
L

T
Z

U
X

V
C

W
V

X
B

Y
N

Z
M

The Morse code was invented by Samuel Morse and was used in the
early 1800's to message people in a telegram. It is a series of beeps that
are short and long. For example _ is called a dash and it would be a long
beep, and would be dot and it would be a short beep.

The Pigpen Cipher was created by the Freemasons so they could keep
documents safe. It was also used by the confederate soldiers during the
Civil War. It is called The Pigpen Cipher because the box's look like
pigpens and the dots look like pigs. It seems complicated but it isn't
really. The lines surrounding the letter and the dots within those lines
are the symbols.

The Phone code is really cool because not a lot of people know it. It is
just the number the letter is on and then what number it is on that
number. For example A is on 1st number on 2 so it would be 2 1.
2
1
A

2
2
B

2
3
C

3
1
D

3
2
E

3
3
F

4
1
G

4
2
H

4
3
I

5
1
J

5
2
K

5
3
L

6
1
M

6
2
N

6
3
O

7
1
P

7
2
Q

7
3
R

7
4
S

8
1
T

8
2
U

8
3
V

9
1
W

9
2
X

9
3
Y

9
4
Z

Braille System is what blind people read. It is a series of raised dots


that tell you what letter, number, or word it is.

The Dorabella was made by Edward Elgar on July 14, 1897 for his
young friend Dora Penny. It is not confirmed a solved code.
Scytale, a cylinder decodes for you!
To make a cylinder cipher you need long strip of paper and cylinder.

Wrap the paper around the cylinder so there are no parts of the cylinder
showing.
You can temporarily tape down the edges to help you with this part.
Write your message across the cylinder (write 1 or 2 letters on each part
of the strip) then unwrap the paper from the cylinder.
You can't decode the cipher unless you have a cylinder the same
diameter as the one it was made on.
The Binary code is a code that the computers recognize using only 1's
and 0's. It is a very complicated code because they are different for
lowercase and capital.

The Grid Transposition cipher is just another type of transposition


cipher. First make a grid that can fit all of the letters, you can do that by
taking the square root of the total number of letters, if it comes out as a
decimals round up. If there are extra spaces add X's. Then you scatter
the numbers in a random order. Then Match the coordinates onto the
second grid. Best codes would come out as EDSEBSCTO. To decode it
all you need to do is make another grid with the letters in the correct
order. Finally match the coordinates onto the correct grid.

The Digraph Cipher is kind of like the Vigenere Cipher. When you
write a sentence you would write it in pairs of twos, li ke th is, and if
there is a letter left over add an x to it. The pairs of letters will be the
coordinates for the two letters. An example would be "IA MT RY IN GT
OE XP LA IN TH IS" = "VG ZN EI VT TN BC KR YG VT GZ VO".
To decipher it the decoded letters will be the coordinates.

The Columnar Cipher is a type of transposition cipher.


1. Get Keyword
2. If your keyword is Zebras, that is 6 letters. You would write 632415
because Z is the 6th highest letter in the word and E is the 3rd
highest letter and so on
3. Then message under the numbers in rows of 6, because Zebra is a 6
letter word.
4. Write out 123456. Under the number write the letters from each
column that match the numbers in the original line of numbers.

One of Bacons best code was a code that used bold and regular fonts in
a certain order to make a new letter. For example "code" would be
something like this "FrancisBacon was a cool guy". After you see the
sentence put all of the letters into groups of 5, like this "Franc isBac
onwas acool" leave out any extra letters. Once you have it like this you
are ready to decode.

The ADFGVX Cipher was a field cipher used by the German Army on
the Western Front during World War I. ADFGVX was in fact an
extension of an earlier cipher called ADFGX.
A table containing a random and secret alphabet is created with these
letters as column headings and row identifiers. This results in the
following table: Keyword 817Marie
A

A
D
F
G
The Keyword Cipher is identical to the Caesar Cipher with the
exception that the substitution alphabet used can be represented with a
keyword. To create a substitution alphabet from a keyword, you first
write down the alphabet. Below this you write down the keyword
(omitting duplicate letters) followed by the remaining unused letters of
the alphabet.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
K E Y W O R D A B C F G H I J L M N P Q S T U V X Z

To encipher a
you convert all
row to their
on the bottom
etc).

A
G
G
X
V

C
V
A
A
A

I
G
G
A
X

P
A
V
G
X

R
V
D
V
V

V
V
F
D
A

Y
A
V
V
G

plaintext message,
letters from the top
corresponding letter
row (A to K, B to E,

V
X

The text 'attack at 1200 am' will translate to this:


A

AV

G
V

G
V

AV

D
G

FG AV

T
G
V

AD XA VX VX AV AG

Then, a new table is created with a key as a heading. Let's use 'PRIVACY' as a
key. Usually much longer keys or even phrases were used. Then the columns
are sorted alphabetically based on the keyword and the table changes to this:
P
A

R
V

I
G

V
V

A
G

C
V

Y
A

V
G
X

D
V
V

G
A
X

F
D
A

G
X
V

A
A
A

Greek Alphabet

V
V
G

Then, appending the columns to each other results in the following cipher text:
GVGA VVAG AGVD FVXA AGVD VVAX XVAG
Having the keyword, the columns can be reconstructed and placed in the
correct order. When using the original table containing the secret alphabet, the
text can be deciphered.
A Polybius Square is a table that allows someone to translate letters
into numbers. To give a small level of encryption, this table can be
randomized and shared with the recipient. In order to fit the 26 letters of
the alphabet into the 25 spots created by the table, the letters i and j are
usually combined.
To encipher a message you replace each
letter with the row and column in which it
appears. For example, D would be
replaced with 14.
To decipher a message you find the letter
that intersects the specified row and
column.
Example:

I/J

Plaintext: This is a secret message


Ciphertext: 44232443 2443 11 431513421544 32154343112215

The Rosicrucian Cipher is almost exactly like the the Pigpen Cipher.
The symbol that the letter is inside is the symbol that you put for that
letter.

then leave it to the other person to do the rest. To make is easier you can
make an arrow all the way through.

Mayan Numerals
The Rot Cipher is when you take a letter and put it back or fourth to
equal a different letter. An example of this would be -1 equals A=Z. +1
equals A+B It is Related to the Caesar Cipher.

The number is: 14 + 7 20 + 1 202 + 3


20 3 + 0 20 4 + 15 20 5 + 5 20 6
The number is 14 + 140 + 1 400 + 3
8,000 + 0 + 15 3,200,000 + 5 64,000,000
The number is = 14 + 140 + 400 + 24,000 +
0 + 48,000,000 + 320,000,000 = 368024554
The Rout Cipher is your message in a patter kind of like a word search.
You make an arrow in the direction of the first two or three letters and

The Alibata Characters is a pre-Hispanic Philippine writing system


that originated from the Javanese script Old Kawi.

Russian Alphabet

The Vigenere Cipher is a 26x26 grid of letters a-z. It is a more


complicated cipher so I will have to try to demonstrate with explaining
battle ship.1) Choose a code word (any word. no numbers).2) Write it
like this (my code word will be "code") i m t r y i n g t o e x p l a i n h o
w t o d o t h i s it doesn't matter if the code word cant fit evenly c o d e
c o d e c o d e c o d e c o d e c o d e c o d e. 3) Look at the grid and
follow the row i and the column c to the intersection like in battle ship.
The letter they intersect on is k. that is how you encode it. 4) To decode
it take the code letter in this case c and go until you find k. Then go up
all the way so you will find i.

Tap code is a code (similar to Morse Code), commonly used by


prisoners in jail to communicate with one another. The method of
communicating is usually by "tapping" either the metal bars or the walls
inside the cell, hence its name. It is a very simple code, not meant to
avoid interception, since the messages are sent in clear text.
The Trifid Cipher is the Bifid Cipher taken to one more dimension.
Instead of using a 5x5 Polybius Square, you use a 3x3x3 cube.
Otherwise everything else remains the same. As with the Bifid Cipher,
the cube can be mixed to add an extra layer of protection, but for these
examples we not be using a mixed alphabet cube.
Layer 2
The
Wig
1
2
3
1
2
Wag
J
K
L
was 1
1
S
T
U
used 2
M
N
O
2
V
W
X
in the
P
Q
R
civil 3
3
Y
Z
.
war to
communicate during battles. It is pretty easy to do; you just have to
remember that you don't have to write out all of some words.

Layer
S
E
3
3
1
3 1
2
1
2

C
R
E
T
M
E
S
S
A
G
E
1
2
1
3
2
1
3
3
1
1
1
3
3
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
1
3
2
1
2
2
1
1
1
3
2
The first step is to use the cube to convert the letters into numbers. We
will be writing the numbers vertically below the message in the order
of Layer, Column, Row.

The numbers are now read off horizontally and grouped into triplets.
311 213 213 311 112 332 212 111 121 213 212 211 132
The cube is used again to convert the numbers back into letters which gives us
our ciphertext.
S PPS D X MAB PM J F
The Bifid Cipher uses a Polybius Square to encipher a message in a way
that makes it fairly difficult to decipher without knowing the secret. This
is because each letter in the ciphertext message is dependent upon two
letters from the plaintext message. As a result, frequency analysis of
letters becomes much more difficult.
The first step is to use the Polybius Square to convert the letters into
numbers. We will be writing the numbers vertically below the message.
S
E
C
R
E
T
M
E
S
S
A
4
1
1
4
1
4
3
1
4
4
1
3
5
3
2
5
4
2
5
3
3
1
The numbers are now read off horizontally and grouped into pairs.

G
2
2

41 14 14 31 44 12 13 53 25 42 53 31 25
The Polybius Square is used again to convert the numbers back into letters
which gives us our ciphertext.
QD DL TB CX KR XL K

Archette Marie Samijon Ajon

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