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In this guide we will be going through multiple types of ciphers and how to decrypt them.
Keep in mind that there might be double and triple encrypted ciphers. Meaning that one cipher will be encrypted using
one way and then the result would be encrypted again using another type of cipher.
Sounds hard but it is very easy once you get a hang of it!
1) ADFGVX Cipher
For a decryption example, we will use the same Key, Alphabet, and final encoded message from the Encryption part.
This is the message: DDFFX DGFGD DGADG GAAGV VAXXA
Because we have the key, "MOVIE", we can unmix this message. First, we have to put the key's letters into
alphabetical order and arrange the message into columns:
EIMOV
DDDGV
DGGAA
FFA AX
FGDGX
XDGVA
Now, we put the keyword into it's proper order, arranging each letter's corresponding column with it.
MOVIE
DGVDD
GAAGD
AAX FF
DGXGF
GVADX
Now the message is put into a straight line, with pairs of letters together:
DG VD DG VA AG DA AX FF DG XG FG VA DX
We can now use the mixed alphabet shared with us to find out what letters these "Coordinates" match up to.
ADFGVX
AQ2WE1R
DTYU I 3O
F 5PA SD4
GFG6 H9J
VKLZ8XC
XV0BNM7
The message translates to: iliketrainsko, which can be spaced out to read "I like trains" (The ko was there because it
had to be added on to fill the grid in the encryption part)
2) ATBASH Cipher
For this cipher you have to just match the given ciphertext with the plain text and write it.
For example: The cipher: W9TQJ09M23
Would decrypt to: I LOVE SCB (Please keep a note of the spaces as the number 9 in cipher text represents a space in the
plaintext)
3) Caesar Cipher
In this cipher you need: An integer between 0-25 denoting the required SHIFT
For Example:
Text: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Shift: 23
Cipher: XYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW
Text: ATTACKATONCE
Shift: 4
Cipher: EXXEGOEXSRGI
Therefore, once you get the shift, map all the alphabets to their respective cipher alphabets (With the shift).
Then, simply follow the same rules as you did for decrypting the ATBASH cipher.
4) PigPen Cipher
In this cipher you need a KEY which will show you the mapping of respective designs to alphabets.
represents "A"
represents "M"
represents "T"
represents "W"
For Example:
Would decrypt to be -> I LOVE SCB
5) RailFence Cipher
The decryption process for the Rail Fence Cipher involves reconstructing the diagonal grid used to encrypt
the message. We start writing the message but leaving a dash in place of the spaces yet to be occupied.
Gradually, you can replace all the dashes with the corresponding letters and read off the plaintext from the
table.
We start by making a grid with as many rows as the key is, and as many columns as the length of the
ciphertext. We then place the first letter in the top left square, and dashes diagonally downwards where
the letters will be. When we get back to the top row, we place the next letter in the ciphertext. Continue
like this across the row and start the next row when you reach the end.
For example, if you receive the ciphertext "TEKOOHRACIRMNREATANFTETYTGHH", encrypted with a
key of 4, you start by placing the "T" in the first square. You then dash the diagonal down spaces until you
get back to the top row and place the "E" here. Continuing to fill the top row you get the pattern below.
The first row of the decryption process for the Rail Fence Cipher. We have a table with 4 rows because the key
is 4, and 28 columns as the ciphertext has length 28.
Continuing this row-by-row, we get the successive stages shown below.
The second stage in the decryption process.
The third stage in the decryption process.
The fourth and final stage in the decryption process.
From this we can now read the plaintext off following the diagonals to get
"THEY ARE ATTACKING FROM THE NORTH"
6) Vigenère Cipher
The Vigenère cipher uses a 26×26 table with A to Z as the row heading and column heading. The first row of
this table has the 26 English letters. Starting with the second row, each row has the letters shifted to the left one
position in a cyclic way. For example, when B is shifted to the first position on the second row, the
letter A moves to the end.
In addition to the plaintext, the Vigenère cipher also requires a keyword, which is repeated so that the total
length is equal to that of the plaintext. For example, suppose the plaintext is MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL
UNIVERSITY and the keyword is HOUGHTON. Then, the keyword must be repeated as follows:
MICHIGAN TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
HOUGHTON HOUGHTONHOUGH TONHOUGNTO
We follow the tradition by removing all spaces and punctuation, converting all letters to upper case, and
dividing the result into 5-letter blocks. As a result, the above plaintext and keyword become the following:
MICHI GANTE CHNOL OGICA LUNIV ERSIT Y
HOUGH TONHO UGHTO NHOUG HTONH OUGHT O
To encrypt, pick a letter in the plaintext and its corresponding letter in the keyword, use the keyword letter and
the plaintext letter as the row index and column index, respectively, and the entry at the row-column
intersection is the letter in the ciphertext. For example, the first letter in the plaintext is M and its corresponding
keyword letter is H. This means that the row of H and the column of M are used, and the entry T at the
intersection is the encrypted result.
Similarly, since the letter N in MICHIGAN corresponds to the letter N in the keyword, the entry at the
intersection of row N and column N is A which is the encrypted letter in the ciphertext
Repeating this process until all plaintext letters are processed, the ciphertext is TWWNPZOA ASWNUHZBNWWGS
NBVCSLYPMM. The following has the plaintext, repeated keyword and ciphertext aligned together.
MICHI GANTE CHNOL OGICA LUNIV ERSIT Y
HOUGH TONHO UGHTO NHOUG HTONH OUGHT O
TWWNP ZOAAS WNUHZ BNWWG SNBVC SLYPM M
TO DECRYPT, pick a letter in the ciphertext and its corresponding letter in the keyword, use the keyword
letter to find the corresponding row, and the letter heading of the column that contains the ciphertext letter is the
needed plaintext letter. For example, to decrypt the first letter T in the ciphertext, we find the corresponding
letter H in the keyword. Then, the row of H is used to find the corresponding letter T and the column that
contains T provides the plaintext letter M (see the above figures). Consider the fifth letter P in the ciphertext.
This letter corresponds to the keyword letter H and row H is used to find P. Since P is on column I, the
corresponding plaintext letter is I
7) ASCII Cipher
In this cipher you just need to use the ASCII table to
convert the cipher text into plain text.
In this table just focus on Dec and Chr columns. Just
keep in mind that the upper and lower case of
alphabets carry different Dec value so be careful
while converting them.
For example:
Cipher Text: 73 32 76 79 86 69 32 83 67 66
Plain Text: I LOVE SCB
Cipher Text: 105 32 108 111 118 101 32 115 99 98
Plain Text: i love scb
8) Binary Cipher:
In this cipher rather than converting from Dec to Chr. You would convert it from Dec to Binary.
It is a bit lengthy to go over in this manual, but it is really easy. Therefore, try to go over it by means of any online
resources like:
Decimal to Binary - Formula, Conversion, Table, Examples (cuemath.com)
https://youtu.be/rsxT4FfRBaM
9) Morse Code:
“Hello” in Morse code is “.... . .-.. .-.. ---”
In this code the DOT represents a tap/sound and the DASH represents a mini pause.
You can also refer to this link for further information:
Morse Code Translator | Morse Decoder
10) Matrix Cipher:
