- Monoalphabetic
- Caesar Cipher
- Atbash Cipher
- Keyword Cipher
- Pigpen / Masonic Cipher
- Polybius Square
- Polyalphabetic
- Vigenère Cipher
- Beaufort Cipher
- Autokey Cipher
- Running Key Cipher
- Polygraphic
- Playfair Cipher
- Bifid Cipher
- Trifid Cipher
- Four-square cipher
- Transposition
- Rail Fence
- Route Cipher
- Columnar Transposition
- Miscellaneous
- Book Cipher
- Beale Cipher
- Morse Code
- Tap Code
- One-time Pad
- Scytale
- Semaphore
- ASCII Code
- Steganography
- Techniques
- Frequency Analysis
- Books
Codes and Ciphers
Codes and Ciphers
- Monoalphabetic
- Caesar Cipher
- Atbash Cipher
- Keyword Cipher
- Pigpen / Masonic Cipher
- Polybius Square
- Polyalphabetic
- Vigenère Cipher
- Beaufort Cipher
- Autokey Cipher
- Running Key Cipher
- Polygraphic
- Playfair Cipher
- Bifid Cipher
- Trifid Cipher
- Four-square cipher
- Transposition
- Rail Fence
- Route Cipher
- Columnar Transposition
- Miscellaneous
- Book Cipher
- Beale Cipher
- Morse Code
- Tap Code
- One-time Pad
- Scytale
- Semaphore
- ASCII Code
- Steganography
- Techniques
- Frequency Analysis
- Books
- Monoalphabetic
- Caesar Cipher
- Atbash Cipher
- Keyword Cipher
- Pigpen / Masonic Cipher
- Polybius Square
- Polyalphabetic
- Vigenère Cipher
- Beaufort Cipher
- Autokey Cipher
- Running Key Cipher
- Polygraphic
- Playfair Cipher
- Bifid Cipher
- Trifid Cipher
- Four-square cipher
- Transposition
- Rail Fence
- Route Cipher
- Columnar Transposition
- Miscellaneous
- Book Cipher
- Beale Cipher
- Morse Code
- Tap Code
- One-time Pad
- Scytale
- Semaphore
- ASCII Code
- Steganography
- Techniques
- Frequency Analysis
- Books
Columnar Transposition Cipher
In a columnar transposition cipher, the message is written out in rows of a fixed length. The message is then read out column by column, where the columns are chosen in some scrambled order. The number of columns and the order in which they are chosen is defined by a keyword. For example, the word ZEBRAS is 6 letters long. Therefore, there are 6 columns that will be read off in the following order: 6 3 2 4 1 5. The order is chosen by the alphabetical order of the letters in the keyword.
In a regular columnar transposition cipher, the empty spaces are filled with random letters. For example, suppose we use the keyword ZEBRAS and the message WE ARE DISCOVERED FLEE AT ONCE. Our grid would look like this:
6 3 2 4 1 5
- - - - - -
W E A R E D
I S C O V E
R E D F L E
E A T O N C
E Q K J E U
The six columns are now written out in the scrambled order defined by the keyword:
Irregular Case
In the irregular case, the empty letters are not filled in with random letters:
6 3 2 4 1 5
- - - - - -
W E A R E D
I S C O V E
R E D F L E
E A T O N C
E
This results in the following (shorter) ciphertext:
To decipher it, the recipient has to work out the column lengths by dividing the message length by the key length. This step is slightly more difficult if the irregular case is used. After determining the number of columns, the message can be written in columns and rearranged back into the plaintext message.
Double Column TranspositionTo make the message even more difficult to decipher, you can take the ciphertext produced by this algorithm and run it through the encryption again using a different keyword. This transposes the columns twice and makes the message extremely difficult to decipher.
Source: Wikipedia
Follow Braingle!