Hey guys! Here is a guide to Introduction to Cryptography: Part 1, How to encrypt secret messages like a hacker.

Simple-Letter-Grouping

I know every one can read in English ……until this….

CANYO UDECO DETHE SEMES SAGES

will make you stop and think because it makes no sense and looks so weird. What does it mean?

First, we wrote out the message “Can you decode these messages.” in capital letters—but without any punctuation and with the words squeezed together:

CANYOUDECODETHESEMESSAGES

(You have to admit that it already looks pretty mysterious!)

Then we divided the message into 5-letter groups, like this . . .

CANYO UDECO DETHE SEMES SAGES

and presto chango—we created a simple secret message!

Did you know that writing in either 4-letter groups or 5-letter groups
is the standard way that professional cryptographers all over the world
encode their messages? It’s a quick way to slow down somebody’s
reading speed—and it’s especially puzzling for readers who have never
seen this technique before.

“Can you decode these messages.” worked great because those six words divided evenly into 5-letter groups. But what will you do with this message?

I AM BOND JAMES BOND

Changed into code, it becomes . . .

IAMBO NDJAM ESBON D

What’s wrong with it? It’s too short. That D at the end needs four more
letters to complete its 5-letter group.

“Nulls” to the rescue! The solution is easy if you add four “nulls” —any dummy or nonsense letters— to fill out that short 5-letter group. For instance, if you pick QXZL as your nulls, the message would read:

IAMBO NDJAM ESBON DQXZL

Or you can complicate the code even more by placing the nulls at the beginning of the secret message, just to make its meaning even harder
to solve:

QXZLI AMBON DJAME SBOND

As soon as you break the coded messages that follow, make up some
of your own to send to your fellow cryptographers.

SECRET MESSAGE :

Coded Message:

THEPR OFUSI ONOFP RODUC TSREL ATEDT OTHEI NVENT IVEGE NIUSO FTHOM ASALV AEDIS ONTOU
CHTHE LIVES OFTHE MAJOR ITYOF THEPO PULAT IONSP ANNIN GTHEG LOBEC ONTRI BUTIN GTOTH
EIRCO MFORT ANDWE LLBEI NGBCR

Decode Message:

THE PROFUSION OF PRODUCTS RELATED TO THE INVENTIVE GENIUS OF THOMAS ALVA EDISON TOUCH THE LIVES OF THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION SPANNING THE GLOBE CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR COMFORT AND WELL BEING.

DECODE THIS IF YOU CAN!

Here’s a Coded Message for you:

PLSWD MATHC OMPTI SAGRE ATWEB SITET OLEAR NABOU TMATH EMATI CSAND COMPU TERSC IENCE EOQBZ

(Hint : Herey ouare plyre!) Nulls are added in both, hint and the message so first decode the hint.

……………….DECODING………………..

Comment the decoded message!!

Part 2 of this interesting cryptography for beginners’ guide will soon be posted on MathCompt. Stay tuned!

Reference : Break the Code: Cryptography for Beginners by Bud Johnson