CODES AND CIPHERS
By Shady
Secret codes have been used for centuries! The first known cipher in history was developed by the Roman leader Julius Caesar. His code was very simple. In fact, you could probably crack it, if you took a bit of time.
So what is codes and ciphers?
A code is where each word in a message is replaced with a code word or symbol, whereas a cipher is where each letter in a message is replaced with a cipher letter or symbol. In fact, when most people say “code,” they are actually referring to ciphers.
Cryptography was used extensively during World War II.
Codes and ciphers are often used by spies to keep secrecy of informations they have but now even in everyday life, people can use it.
In deep web, communicating with encryption( the process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access) is a thing, codes and ciphers plays a vital role.
There are thousands of types of hidden messages but we’ll have overview of the most known.
•ROT1
This is a cipher familiar to many children. Its key is simple: each letter of the alphabet is replaced with the following letter, so A is replaced with B, B is replaced with C, and so on. “ROT1” literally means “rotate 1 letter forward through the alphabet.” The message “I know what you did last summer” would become “J lopx xibu zpv eje mbtu tvnnfs” and so on. This cipher is fun because it is easy to understand and use, but it is equally easy to decipher if they key is used in reverse. This cipher is not suitable for serious use but can be of great amusement.
•TRANSPOSITION CIPHERS
the letters are rearranged according to some predetermined rule or key. For example, words might be written backwards, so that “all the better to see you with” becomes “lla eht retteb to ees joy htiw.” Another transposition key is to swap every pair of letters, so the previous message becomes “la tl eh eb tt re to es ye uo iw ht.” Such ciphers were used during the First World War and the American Civil War to send sensitive messages. Complex rules of rearrangement can make these ciphers seem very difficult at first, but many transposed messages can be deciphered using anagrams or modern computer algorithms which test thousands of possible transposition keys.
•CAESAR SHIFT CIPHER
Named because it was used by Julius Caesar himself, shift cipher is actually 26 different ciphers, one for each letter of the alphabet. A person only needs to be told which Caesar cipher was used in order to decipher a message. If the G cipher is used, then A becomes G, B becomes H, C becomes I, and so on through the alphabet. If the Y cipher is used, then A becomes Y, B becomes Z, C becomes A, and so on. This cipher is the basis for many more complex ciphers, but on its own does not allow great protection of a secret message, as checking 26 different cipher keys does not take a relatively great amount of time.
•COLUMNAR TRANSPOSITION CIPHER
Also known as Caesar’s Box, to decipher all you need to do is count the number of characters in the code then determine how many rows you can divide the letters into equally (Find the square root of the number of characters, If the square root isn't a whole number, round up). Example, you can put 16 into 4 rows of 4. Then write the letters out into rows. Start from the top left letter and read down, then start at the top of the next column and read down again, and so on.
•REBUSES
One type of cipher known as rebus - it is a message enciphered by replacing characters with words or parts of words , or pictures ,signs etc. Example the word island is presented in this
“ 👁l&”, an eye represents the vowel “i” and the ampersand read as “and”, when peices are read together is equivalent to “island”
That’s all for now folks... continuation in my next articles.
Below are fun riddles for you to decipher:
1.) CODE BREAKING
Detective James Gordon needs to access a secret door that can be accessed only by a code. The code is about 7 characters and consists of numbers and alphabets. There was a picture just above the door as shown below with the text "You force heaven to be empty".
Can you help Detective James Gordon to break the code?
- JULIUS CAESAR’S BOX
What does this message say ?
G T Y O R J O T E O U I A B G T
Hint
Count the letters and try splitting the letters up into groups.
- CHAT REBUS
What does below terminology means?
"IF YOU SEE CAY"
Hint: This is commonly used in chats where abusive language are blocked by filters.
First to get the 3 correct answers will receive a gift from me. *kisses
I’ll post the answer at 7pm.
Sources: dcode, briddle , litverse