Caesar's Revenge
Hello everyone, long time lurker, 1st time poster.
Here's one for the analog folk... If the image below appeals to your sensibilities, then the article below that may as well.
Lots of nerdy details... Enjoy the brainfood.
Caesar's Revenge
AT A GLANCE
. Pencil & paper cipher requires no computer
. Auto encrypting/decrypting (no password needed)
. Great for masking text in hand-written notes
SYNOPSES
Concerning Julius Caesar's military communications, Roman historian Suetonius
wrote: "If he had anything confidential to say, he wrote it in cipher, and by
so changing the order of the letters of the alphabet, not a word could be
made out."
Caesar's Revenge is an enhanced variant of the Caesar cipher [i] that, unlike
its predecessor, understands both digits & case sensitivity [ii]. And yet to
be clear, Caesar's Revenge, like as all substitution ciphers, is inherently
light-duty cryptography [iii/iv]. It certainly wouldn't withstand a brute
force attack by endless banks of quantum-gizmos courtesy the NSA [v]. Bottom
line? When used in accordance with its intended purpose of masking text,
Caesar's Revenge nevertheless provides very good utility. Read on for more
information...
EXAMPLE
Here, we'll begin moving quickly, if you come across unfamiliar jargon,
simply study the terms defined in the glossary section of this document.
Ready? Righty then, lets do this...
1/3 Choose a permutation from the permutations section...
0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
2/3 Create a tableau by splitting the permutation equally into two parts,
each on its own line...
0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU
VWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
3/3 Encode/decode as needed by locating each character & converting to its
opposite row in the same column...
0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU
VWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
plaintext: Snowbear42
ciphertext: xIJR695MZX
Boom! You're done.
CAVEATS
. Group text into blocks to further disguise meaning...
yellow submarine yello
wsubm
arine
. Your tableau is a key, keep it private. Store it in your wallet, or better
yet, convert the permutation to mnemonic [vi] notation like so...
mnemonic: 09AZaz
expands to: 0 to 9, A to Z, a to z
PERMUTATIONS
Here's a brief list of permutations & millions more are possible [vii].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i. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_cipher
ii. The classic Roman alphabet contained only 20 letters A to X. It was not
until late antiquity that lowercase letters came into use.
iii. "Cryptography" is a compound word derived from Greek meaning
hidden/"cryptic" writing/"graph".
iv. Substitution cipher's are still very much in use on social media to mask
spoilers & adult humor, etc.
v. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Security_Agency
vi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic
vii. Randomize & reverse (but never add, delete, or duplicate) characters
within a permutation for even greater obfuscation.
GLOSSARY
cipher: a method used to render text unreadable
plaintext: readable unmasked text
ciphertext: unreadable masked text
tableau: block of text used to encrypt/decrypt text
permutation: unique re-combinations characters, xyz, yzx, zxy, etc.
uppercase: larger letters always CAPITALIZED, ABC
lowercase: smaller letters never capitalized, abc
row: characters depicted horizontally, ROW
column: characters depicted vertically, C
O
L
U
M
N
LEGALESE
[c]2022 Michael S. Sanders, Pampa, TX, USA. All rights reserved.
COLOPHON
1JMF C5M8 5I8 H5F9 TJPM HJOC9M KMJP8
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Comments
(Bumping because this was in the moderation queue and now sank to the bottom)
Author at Zettelkasten.de • https://christiantietze.de/
Very usefull. Thanks.
Thanks. Admittedly a bit of a long read, but handy in certain contexts... This paper was a 1st draft. Hoping to release an expanded & more plainly written revision to this forum soon.
Tinybase: plain text database for BSD, Linux, Windows (& hopefully Mac soon)