More Ciphers
Yay! Ciphers can be as easy or complicated as needed, almost everything is encrypted now and as might be expected the higher the security or financial risk the more complex the encryption. We're not quite going that far :)
Most simple ciphers (#5) can often be spotted or identified and even decrypted by hand quite quickly. The addition of a password or encryption text can quickly add another level of complexity. A lot of the patterns can still be spotted but without knowing the password, the only method to solve is to examine ALL possibilities. This can be narrowed by some thought on the plaintext, for example with coordinates we are usually looking for a plaintext that would contain digits written out - in the majority of the UK "FIFTY" is usually near the start of the text.
There are also numerous tools online that will "brute force" a solution for you.
Vigenere Cipher is essentially the Caesar Cipher but based on the "password" gives the "shift" for that letter.
For example the plaintext "nonsense" with a password of "password". The first letter n would be shifted by p (or 15), the second letter o would be shifted by a (or 0). Note: the count is from A-Z, 0-25 (not 26)
Giving a ciphertext of "cofkabjh". To decode you reverse the steps, or use an online solver :)
Similarly passwords can also be applied to Transposition Ciphers; the Columnar Transposition Cipher is such an example. Similar to the Route Cipher the plain text is written out into a grid format. The password is then used to give the "order" that will produce the ciphertext as each column is read down according to the alphabetical order of the password.
So GEOCACHINGPUZZLES101 fits the grid as shown and the direction of the reading. The Password MIXUP, means that column 2 (I) will be read first, followed by column 1 (M) and so on.
Which gives the cipher text "EHUSGCPEAGL1CNZ0OIZ1"
Your turn :)
North: AQBIGAFDZZUDRVFXCZKISMMIOEU
East: FPEIZYIERITGFHETITVSEENITONXOGSH
*** Congratulations to SoniaHarry on their FTF ***