Reading mystery thriller detective novels like Project Loki and MoriarTea and watching anime anime with the same genre like Detective Conan help me to enhance my analysis,intuition,and judgment. I learned some life lessons too indulging on these. Furthermore, these are good ways to kill my time and cease my boredom. Not just all of that, my interest about codes and ciphers bloomed because of reading mystery-thriller books and watching detective anime.
There are countless codes and cipher around. Some are still unsolved, others are complex, while there are simple and easy ones. Prepare your notes, here are four simple and easy to learn ciphers:
1. Atbash
The Cipher and Its History
Atbash is a substitution cipher that simply reciprocates the plain text alphabet to produce ciphertext alphabet, the reason that it is also called mirror cipher, backwards alphabet, or reverse alphabet.
The Atbash cipher was originally used for the Hebrew alphabet. It was believed by scholars to be invented between -1000 and -500 BCE and originated in Israel, and its use pre-fates Egyptian examples of encryption. It was even used in the Bible just like in Jeremiah 25:26 that reads, " The king of Sheshach shall drink after them. " The word Sheshach can be decrypted to Babylon using Atbash in it's original Hebrew equivalent.
The Encryption and Decryption
The encryption is just a piece of cake for the reason that this cipher is just simple. To encrypt a word or you want the word to be unreadable for others just replace letters from the first with the letters from the other one, following the pattern that the first letter(A) is equivalent to the last letter (Z), the second letter (B) replaced by the second to the last letter (Y) and so on. So when letter A is encrypted, it will become Z;the B will be Y; and C will be X.
For example: Read Cash will become Ivzw Xzhs
To decrypt, just do the opposite of encryption process.
For example: Lmv Krvxv is One Piece when decrypted–one of the best anime around.
For easier encryption and decryption you can use a table or copy just like in the photo above.
2. A1Z26
The Cipher
A1Z26 Cipher or sometimes called Letter-to-Number cipher or Latin Aphabet Cipher is an extremely simple cipher. It is done by replacing each letter by its position in the alphabet, and vice versa. A is 1 and Z will be 26,hence the name A1Z26.
Because A1z26 cipher is simple and easy to learn, it is commonly used cipher in kid's show like Gravity Falls.
The Encryption and Decryption
To encrypt just convert each letters to the number that corresponds to its position on the alphabet. The letter A is the first letter in the alphabet thus it will become 1 when encrypted, B is second letter so it will be 2,C is 3, while D is 4 and so on.
For example: One of the best bands– TWENTY ONE PILOTS will become 20 23 5 14 20 25 15 14 5 16 9 12 15 20 19 when encrypted using the said cipher.
In decryption, just do the opposite. Determine which letter corresponds to the number by knowing letters' position and order in the alphabet.
For example :Be decoding 6 15 12 11 15 18 5,you will have one of Taylor's best album–Folklore.
A1Z26 will be much easier if you memorized not just the alphabet but also the position and order of letters. If not, you can have the copy of each letters and their equivalent when encrypted for easier decryption and encryption, like the photo above.
3. Rot13
The Cipher and Its History
ROT13(stands for ROTate by 13 places or Rotation 13,with variations like hyphenated ROT-13 or lowercase rot13) is a simple substitution cipher that replaces a letter with the 13th letter after it in the alphabet.
ROT13 is a special case of Caesar Cipher –one of the simplest and known encryption technique in which a letter is replaced by a letter following a constant number in positions down the alphabet that wad developed in Ancient Rome.
The name of the cipher 'ROT13'emerged on Usenet in early 1980s. This is not originally used to make a plaintext a secret but to have a reader a choice and determination whether to decode it. That's why, it is commonly used in online forums (Usenet) as means of hiding joke punchlines, solutions to puzzles, story and movie spoilers, anad offensive materials.
The Encryption and Decryption
To encrypt with ROT-13, replace a letter by another letter that place 13 ranks after it in the alphabet ;therefore each letter is shifted by 13 positions in the English alphabet. The letter A will be N, B will become O, C is P and it continues.
For example: JEAN KIRSTEIN is crypted to WRNA XVEFGRVA using ROT13.
The decryption with ROT13 is nearly the same with the encryption because of the reciprocal substituting alphabet used. To decrypt, just do the opposite. Move 13 places backward to decode a letter. So the letter Z will become M, Y will be L, X is K, and so on.
For example:By decrypting the ciphertext Terra Qnl,you will have Green Day as the message.
For decryption and encryptiom with ease, you can use a ROT13 Cipher correspondence chart just like the image above.
4.Keyboard Cipher
The Cipher
The Keyboard Substitution Cipher, also called QWERTY Cipher is a simple cipher that substitutes each letter of the alphabet with the letter with the same position/order in the keyboard or typewriter.
The Encryption and Decryption
Encryption with Keyboard Cipher is pretty easy. Just replace a letter of the alphabet from the letter in a keyboard(QWERTY is commonly used) with the same order/position (following the left to right keys, from top to bottom row). The first letter A will become Q because it is the first letter in the keyboard. B will be W, C will become E, D is R when encrypted and so on.
For example: Encrypting the plaintext KING HARLEQUIN, you will have the ciphertext AOFU IQKSTJXOF.
To decrypt just do the opposite or use a substitution table.
Encryption and decryption with Keyboard Cipher will become easier with the use of substitution guide,like in the picture above.
These ciphers are easy to learn, are simple, and encryption and decryption are just piece of cake. Due to these ciphers' simplicity, they are easy to be decrypted using frequency analysis and determining these common ciphers used. Because these ciphers are weak, these are not usually used to hide messages but used in entertainment like puzzles, kid's show and games.
Let the games begin. Let's have some fun!
Decode the following for a prize. One person per item only. And which of the following ciphers is your favorite?
14 25 3 20 15 6 9 12 5(A1Z26)WZIPMVHH(Atbash)GALYBE FJVSG(ROT13)LXFRQN(Keyboard Cipher)
