Favorite Cipher that we Learned About

I just wanted to know what other people considered to be their favorite cipher. I thought that the Vignere cipher was the coolest just because of the sheer difficulty it was associated with. I also enjoyed the Pig Pen Cipher, used by the Free Masons. I had seen the cipher before but never knew its name. I thought that it was a very interesting cipher.

Crazy Awesome USB

Look at this USB that I found on Stumble Upon

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1oSBnZ/www.geekextreme.com/gadgets/crypteks-usb-drive-worlds-most-secure-usb-drive-11629

Poster

Hey Everyone,
I just wanted to say that I thought our posters looked great. I was really happy with how mine turned out along with everyone else's. It was really interesting to get to walk around to other seminars and see what they were learning while also being able to talk to people from our class about similar material. I thought that the poster project was a really cool idea and I enjoyed it a lot.

Reused Passwords

How many of us use passwords for a myriad of sources such as Gateway, Facebook, bank accounts, etc. But when you think about it, how many of us use the same password for almost all of these. If necessary we throw in a few discrepancies with the same password but all in all we usually rotate between a select amount of passwords. I know for a fact if a person was to discover the main password I use, they would have access to almost all of my social networks and some of my monetary sources.

Is Learning a New Language a form of Cryptology?

When you learn a new language, you take all the information you previously know and convert it into a new form, basically a cipher text. Though people who understand this new language can decode this new message, people like you who cannot understand this new language are confused by this message. Luckily, especially with the internet, it is easier to decode these but before technology simply writing in speaking in a different language was a way to code messages or information.

DNA Sequencing: The Human Code

Ok so we have all most likely taken at least one biology course through either high school or college now and even if not we should all be familiar the DNA. DNA is the genetic material in which all of our heritable information is stored. The Human Genome Project were the first people ever to successfully unravel the entire human genome and record the sequences. This feat was amazing because of the massive amount of nucleic base pairs. Fun stuff right here.

Invisible Ink

One of the first versions of cryptology or more stenography was the use of invisible inks. Often times common inks were used and the main way of decoding them was to the parchment or item the ink was on. Once the heat was applied, the message would be revealed. This is such a simple process but was very effective and still is today.

Linear A

Linear A is one of two linear scripts in Ancient Crete. These two were discovered by Arthur Evans. He also named these scripts. Linear B was deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris and was used to write Mycenaean Greek. Linear B values have been used in attempt to decipher Linear A but Linear A has never been fully translated. These scripts share many similar symbols but when the symbols from Linear B are used to decipher Linear A, the words are unclear. This is very confusing and is reason while many people have been unsuccessful.

Chinese Gold Bar Cipher

In 1933, seven gold bars were allegedly issued to a Chinese general in Shanghai. The gold bars appear to represent metal certificates related to a bank deposit with a U.S. Bank. The gold bars themselves have pictures, Chinese writing, some form of script writing, and cryptograms in Latin letters. It may help to resolve the dispute if someone can decipher the cryptograms on the bars. Nobody has yet put for the a theory as to their meaning. The Chinese writing has been translated, and discusses a transaction in excess of $300,000,000. There is some dispute over whether or not these gold bars are actually valid or not. Regardless, nobody has been able to completely decipher their meaning.

Tabula Recta

The tabula recta is a square table of alphabets, each row of which is made by shifting the previous one to the left. The term was invented by Johannes Trithemius. Trithemius used the tabula recta to define a polyalphabetic cipher which was equivalent to Leon Battista Alberti's cipher disk except that the alphabets are not mixed. The tabula recta is a main reason of how people were able to crack the Vigenère cipher and Blaise de Vigenère's less well-known autokey cipher. All polyalphabetic ciphers based on Caesar ciphers can be explained by the tabula recta in specific terminology.

Importance of Cryptology

Cryptology has been around since the dawn of time but has become more and more prevalent during war and the computer/internet era. I had an idea of what countries had major influences on cryptology, such as England and the United States but I was truly unaware of the vastness of cryptology. People in every major power around the world are working on cryptography. Even in smaller countries, this practice is still going on. I was stunned to read in our book the major impact that Poland had on cracking the German Enigma because I had no idea they were capable of such a feat. This leads me to question, what other countries have had cryptology programs going unnoticed? With computers, we are now able to continuously update and enhance cryptology but this does not mean that there are not others out there working just as hard as the world super powers.

Dorabella Cipher

This cipher was an enciphered letter from Edward Elgar to Miss Dora Penny. This letter contained a cipher of 87 characters and is made of an alphabet of 24 characters. These symbols range from 1-3 semi-circles that are pointed in any of eight directions. Many attempts to break this cipher have proved futile. The amount of characters would suggest that it would be a simple single substitution cipher but every attempt to break the cipher in this manner were unsuccessful. Even Miss Dora Penny was never able to decipher this letter.

Shugborough Inscription

The Shugborough inscription is a sequence of letters - O U O S V A V V, between the letters D M - carved on the 18th-century Shepherd's Monument in the grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England. It has never been fully explained, and has been called one of the world's top uncracked ciphertexts. These letter are found on a monument that was built in the mid-1700's. The painting contains a rustic arch and shows a woman and three shepherds. There are many theories revolving around these strange letters but have cracked the code or have evidence that support them.

Swype and T9: Common ciphers

Every time we use our cell phones to text, most of us us a cipher. Especially for those of us who use Swype or T9. In both of these forms of texting, numbers on the phone represent letters. With Swype, you simply run your fingers along the touch screen on top of where the letters are and the phone analyzes the motion you made to determine the word you were trying to spell. I still think that Swype is an insane idea because the phone has to convert a simple motion of your finger into words. Both of these methods of texting demonstrate the phones ability to convert numbers or symbols into competent words. I just never really saw these as ciphers before but they actually make sense as ciphers.

Turkish Test Cipher Conspiracy

In Turkey last year, there was a large conspiracy involving the entrance exam for the Turkish university. Apparently, there was a cipher within the exam that revealed the answers to many of the multiple choice questions. It was rumored that a select few were given the answer on how to decipher this and thus give them many of the answers. The cipher may have been an accident but it still drew much attention. This conspiracy ran all the way up to the prime minister. Imagine going into the SATs and knowing a code that would give you the right answer for all the questions.

Here is the website that explains this conspiracy in detail:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110531/full/474017a.html

Ciphers in Movies

One movie that utilizes the confusion and pressure of ciphers are the Saw movies. In these movies, the antagonist, Jigsaw, uses codes and ciphers to force some of his prisoners to escape their torture chambers. Another movie that uses stenography and ciphers is National Treasure. In this movie, Nicholas Cage chases after a lost treasure through historical knowledge and his ability to decode hidden messages and clues all over the United States. These are only two examples of the movie industry utilizing the suspense and adventure surrounding ciphers and codes.

Jefferson Disk

The Jefferson disk also know as the Jefferson wheel. This is a cipher system in which wheels or disk are used to rearrange the letters of the alphabet. Each wheel contains the 26 letters of the alphabet around its circumference. Each wheel usually has a different order of the letters around the edge. This scrambling of the letters increases the difficulty to break the cipher. There is a hole in the center of each disk that allows them all to slide onto a center axis. The cipher key is very important for the sender and receiver because it indicates the order in which the disks should be placed on the axis.

Stenography

The method of shorthand is a practice in which symbols are used to represent letters or words. This method is mainly used by courtroom workers to copy the discussions of the courtroom verbatim. Abbreviation methods are alphabet-based and use different abbreviating approaches. Secretaries and journalists are also known to be trained in this efficient technique because of their jobs. Though not usually used for secret writing, this technique could easily be used for it as well.

Red Robin Cipher

On Sunday I was at Red Robin with my parents and when I got the my drink I was stunned to see that it was a cipher disk. I was actually pathetically excited to see this and then explained to my parents what it was based off. I then explained how I the inner disk would usually be rotate-able. I do not think that they cared that much but I was very excited and I wanted to show the class how the real world enjoys our material as well.

Caesar Cipher

Julius Caesar, like many other rulers throughout history, was a firm believer in the power and secrecy of cryptology. Caesar was an advocate of different ciphers in order to hide his messages. One cipher that he used the most came to be known at the "Caesar Cipher." This cipher was a simple substitution. Caesar took a regular alphabet and shifted his cipher alphabet 3 letters down. In the Casesar cipher, an A would be written down as a D, a B would be E, and so on. Caesar used this cipher to communicate with his generals. For many years this cipher was not broken, which I find very surprising because compared to other ciphers, this one seems like one of the easiest ones to decipher. If you want to check out more Caesar cipher info or create your own cipher, go to
http://www.simonsingh.net/The_Black_Chamber/caesar.html

Pig Latin: A Childish Form of Codes

At one point in our life, many perhaps all of us have either attempted to or successfully spoken in pig latin. If you were aware of the rules of this code, one would be able to have a coherent conversation with the person speaking but if you did not know the words, the conversation would sound like a bunch of gibberish. They rules of pig latin are :

1. If a word starts with a constant and a vowel, put the last letter of the word at the beginning of the word and add "ay."
Example: Happy = Yhappy + ay = Yhappay

2. If a word starts with two constants move the two constants to the end of the word and add "ay."
Example: Child = Ildch + ay = Ildchay

3. If a word starts with a vowel add the word "way" at the end of the word.
Example: Awesome = Awesome +way = Awesomeway

If you feel like it, try an write a few sentences in accordance with these rules. Oodgay ucklay!

Rules from: http://library.thinkquest.org/27158/concept1_14.html

Free Mason Pig Pen Cipher

One very famous society that is often associated with secrets and ciphers is the group of the Freemasons. The Freemasons are simply members of a fraternal organization. This group though has been known to use symbols and ciphers in communicating with one another, thus adding their reputation as very secret society. One of the ciphers used by the Freemasons was the pig-pen cipher. This cipher was a simple substitution cipher where symbols are substituted for words. Here is a picture of the Freemasons key from Wikipedia:

Alberti Cipher Message

In a world where mono-alphabetic ciphers were losing their secrecy, the quest to give the cryptologists the upper hand against their cryptanalysist rivals had begun. One of the first attempts at enhancing the secrecy was to use poly-alphabetic ciphers, but how? Leon Battista Alberti in his treatise De Cifris was one of the first to attempt this daring task. He invented a simple but very effective tool. This device would later be known as the Alberti Cipher Disk. It consisted of two disks connected by a pin in the center of both. The outer disk consists of capital letters and the inner disk is made up of lower case letters. To begin a cipher or to crack it, the Index letter has to be known. The index letter is chosen from the capital letters and once agreed upon, the first lowercase letter is to be lined up underneath the capital index letter. So if the index letter was D and the first lowercase letter was an "n", the lowercase n would be placed underneath the capital D on the cipher disks. If a lowercase letter was coded for a number between 1-4, that lowercase letter would now be placed underneath the index letter. Also, some letters can code for the deletion of the previous letter uncoded or they could code for nothing at all. All of this is decided beforehand between the sender and the receiver. Here is my humble attempt at this complex cipher:

Index:R

nrbbpxnyrbetgyhdbyydkflleykny.