Code Breaking and Decoding Tools
The following codes and ciphers are detailed below, click to go straight to one or carry on reading:
Modern Codes, Atbash Cipher, Caesar Shift, Caesar Square, Anagrams, Substitution Ciphers, Other Ciphers.
OSCam 11685 ALL Images mips – arm – arm64 version 11685. OSCAM for DM900, DM920, DM520,DM525, DM820, DM7080 (DEB). Cryptii Enigma to Text Cryptii v2 Convert, encode, encrypt, decode and decrypt your content online Attention! This version of cryptii is no longer under active development. Find the latest version on cryptii.com. Cryptii is an OpenSource web application under the MIT license where you. The enigma machine was used in World War II to encrypt secret messages.The Enigma machines are a series of electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines. The first machines were invented at the end of World War I by German engineer Arthur Scherbius and were mainly used to protect commercial, diplomatic and military communication. Enigma machines became more and more complex and were heavily used. Tool to solve cryptograms. The cryptogram is one of the oldest classical ciphers. It is simple enough that it usually can be solved by hand. Each letter is replaced by a different letter of the alphabet, so solving the puzzle means finding out the original lettering. Tool to solve cryptograms. The cryptogram is one of the oldest classical ciphers. It is simple enough that it usually can be solved by hand. Each letter is replaced by a different letter of the alphabet, so solving the puzzle means finding out the original lettering.
Creating and decoding secret messages has played a pivotal role throughout history and in many fictional novels, from the Caesar Cipher by Julias Caesar, through to the Enigma Machine in World War II to the various codes in Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.
Detailed below are various decoding tools, starting with the simplest and progressing to the increasingly complicated. In The Da Vinci Game, several of the Logic Key challenges use simple variants of these codes which can be deciphered manually. They are provided here simply for your enjoyment.
Enigma Decoder online, free
For more information about The Da Vinci Board Game itself, please see the links on the left.
Modern Codes
The invention of the computer along with the development of modern Internet connection media like broadband, has meant that modern codes are immeasurably more complicated than the codes described below, with the possibility to transform a message in innumerable ways. The Enigma machine used in World War II is probably the earliest example of this.
Even with this encryption the challenge is still to pass on the decoding mechanism or key to the intended recipient of messages in a way in which it cannot be intercepted, as if the key falls into someone else's hands, then you may as well be writing your code in plain English.
Atbash Cipher
The Atbash Cipher is a simple substition cipher where the first letter of the alphabet is exchanged with the last letter of the alphabet and so on. It is the simplest cipher because it only allows one possible way to decode a word. That said, the cipher will vary depending on the alphabet; for the English alphabet simply exchange the letter in the code for the letter either below or above it in the following table:
Q1. Using the Atbash cipher, what does the code YRYOV become? (a book that contains several words coded using this cipher).
Caesar Shift Decoder (also called the Caesar Cipher)
The Caesar Shift allows you to encode text in one of 25 different ways, by shifting each letter between 1 and 25 'steps' along the alphabet, so a shift of 1 would mean A becomes B, B becomes C, etc. To download a free copy of a Caesar Shift Decoder which allows you to see all 25 possible Caesar Shifts simultaneously, please click here. You will need Microsoft Excel to view and use the attachment.
The Caesar Shift or Caesar Cipher can be made more complicated by having a different shift for different letters in the sequence, as in the recent code that Judge Peter Smith hid in the document of this judgement in The Da Vinci Code vs. Holy Blood, Holy Grail case.
Q2. Using the Caesar Cipher, what does the code P BOO WK CYX become? (indicating an affiliation with a certain secret society).
Caesar Square or Box
The Caesar Square requires the decoder to omit any spaces and then rewrite the code in a square and read down the columns to reveal the answer, so for example to encode the phrase 'What an unusual box', first omit the spaces to get 'WHATANUNUSUALBOX' and then write them in a box as follows:
To write this in code, you would then print 'WA ULH NS BA UU OT NAX' (the spaces are unimportant).
While it would be possible to use a rectangle instead of a square, a square is the standard mechanism for this particular encoding device, therefore if the number of letters in a code is a square number (9, 16, 25, 36, etc.) it may indicate a Caesar Square is being used.
Q3. Using the Caesar Square, what phrase is revealed here: 'CAE EG ELLNE NIL CNT NI ECRT GAY' (an organisation who spend plenty of time cracking codes themselves).
Anagrams
Anagrams are where the order of letters is rearranged to form a new word or phrase, so EARTH can become HEART and SECURE can become RESCUE.
The longer the anagram the more difficult a code is to solve, some codes can be set where a standard algorithm to change the place of letters is used (e.g. the first and seventh letters are swapped, the second and forth letters are swapped, etc.) To create the Vitruvian Man clues in The Da Vinci Game, we used Anagram Genius (TM) which orders anagrams into the most likely and most interesting first and was also used by Dan Brown to generate the Anagrams used in The Da Vinci Code.
Q4. What city is 'GNASH ON WIT' an anagram of?
Other Substitution Ciphers
A more complex substitution cipher is where letters are replaced with other letters at random, so A might become Y, B could become D, etc. It's practically impossible to crack short codes written using this, unless you discover the key, however for longer codes frequency analysis can be used, whereby you count how many times each letter appears in the code and compare this to the frequency of how commonly different letters normally appear in the alphabet.
For example, if the letter 'Q' appears the most often in a code, it will probably be a common letter, such as 'E', 'T' or 'A'. The following graph shows how frequently different letters crop up in the English language, courtesy of Wikipedia:
A clever coded message will hide the frequency by carefully using, for example few words that include the letter E in the message to be decoded. Some codes also use punctuation, numbers and even spaces as part of the code and also deliberate mis-spellings to make it more difficult for the solver.
Q5. Can you decode the quote from the play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare:
'Juemrn rby heiw obhyn nypjmy oaybm ryeoan; ay segbeio iysym oenoy jp ryeoa nqo jicy.
P egg oay ujirymn oaeo wyo aesy ayemr, bo nyyhn oj hy hjno nomeity oaeo hyi najqgr pyem;
yybit oaeo ryeoa, e iycynnemw yir, ubgg cjhy uayi bo ubgg cjhy.'
Other ciphers
In addition to the ciphers above there are many other ways to code messages and the most difficult codes will use a range of different encryption methods, such as applying a sustitution cipher and then rearranging the letters using a Caesar Square or some other method.
Another way to hide codes is to hide them in plain sight, where for example the fifth letter in every paragraph makes a code, or a grid is placed over text with small holes in it and only the letters you can see through the holes are read. This means that a passage of text is unlikely to be recognised as a code so an attempt to decode it is less likely.
Modern Codes, Atbash Cipher, Caesar Shift, Caesar Square, Anagrams, Substitution Ciphers, Other Ciphers.
The Beaufort Cipher is named after Sir Francis Beaufort. It is similar to the Vigenère, but the encryption and decryption is reciprocal (the encryption and decryption algorithms are the same). The Beaufort cipher is a polyalphabetic cipher, a series of Caesar ciphers, based on the letters of a keyword.
Beaufort Cipher Tool
Auto Solve Options
Instructions
You can decode (decrypt) or encode (encrypt) your message with your key. If you don't have any key, you can try to auto solve (break) your cipher.
Settings
- Standard Mode v s Autokey Variant: The Autokey mode is a stronger variant of the cipher, where letters of the plaintext become part of the key. It eliminates the periodic repeats otherwise seen in polyalphabetic ciphers.
- Language: The language determines the letters and statistics used for decoding, encoding and auto solving.
- Min/Max Key Length: This is the search range for keys when auto solving a cipher.
- Iterations: The more iterations, the more time will be spent when auto solving a cipher.
- Max Results: This is the maximum number of results you will get from auto solving.
- Spacing Mode: This is about the spaces (word breaks) in the text. In most cases it should be set to Automatic. In case a specific letter (for instance X) is used as word separator, set it to Substitute.
Enigma Decoder Online
Note: Auto Solve will try in the mode you select (Standard Mode or Autokey mode). Standard mode is the most common, but if you don't know the mode, you should try both.
Results
Not seeing the correct result? Try Auto Solve or use the Cipher Identifier Tool.
Auto Solve results
| Score | Key | Text |
|---|
Still not seeing the correct result? Then try experimenting with the Auto Solve settings or use the Cipher Identifier Tool.
Enigma Code Converter
Features
- The Beaufort cipher is a polyalphabetic substitution cipher. The Enigma machine is another example of a (more complex) polyalphabetic substitution cipher.
- It was named after Sir Francis Beaufort, an Irish officer in the Royal Navy.
- The Beaufort cipher is reciprocal, that is, decryption and encryption algorithms are the same.
- A Beaufort cipher works similar to the Vigenère cipher, only that instead of adding letter values, it calculates the cipherletter = keyletter - plaintextletter.
- After applying an Atbash cipher, the Beaufort cipher can be broken using same methods as a Vigenère cipher.
Beaufort ciphers, and variants of it, are occasionally used in CTFs, geocaching mystery caches, and logic puzzles.
Sample Beaufort Cipher
Code-breaking is not only fun, but also a very good exercise for your brain and cognitive skills. Why don't you try breaking this example cipher:
bta nkcu qv tot xjej gp hdpulwxyk buncdlwl jz avyo ufqd oail vchnfo vfb qruc ova kucjewj av zcp mf potig eou buncd acn gzhje pzx hrrcpg yo umff jgtq ziyefa gnb snckv rd jgpl lcumfayk tsdiaq qky utigy ngg oowfqke naf zobp gnrfrbdiv evalfqdn caq j ouvm vm klcjfbcpg nwhb jez n eyrjj fe eulp nkuup iaynq jez jgadejq cnl bpjg
