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Math 324 1

Lecture 2

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Math 324 2

Substitution cipher

Description: you permute the alphabet in a set way. (This permutation of the alphabet is the key of this cipher.)

For example, the permutationA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

↓T H E Q U I C K B R O W N F X J M P S V L A Z Y D G

will produce

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Math 324 3

Plaintext: Life on the Mississippi

Ciphertext: WBIUXFVKUNBSSBSSBJJB

And, to decipher the message, we must use the inverse permutationA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

V I G Y C N Z B F P H U Q M K R D J S A E T L O X W

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• (Ignoring punctuation, spaces, and the distinction between capital letters and lower-case letters,) how many permutations of the alphabet (=the number of keys) are there?

• 26! = 403291461126605635584000000≈• So it seems to be a reasonably save cipher,

but!

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Math 324 5

Letter frequencies• Not every character is used equally

frequently: Click here• Most commonly used letters: ETAOIN …

(which may depend on your source)—if you count spaces as letters, spaces might be more common than E.

• Most common digraphs: TH, HE, IN, ER, ... …

• Most common doubled letters: SS, EE, …9/09/2015

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ExampleRZOLB QJOWW QBWIR DQFQE VICOB OKOLR UVIDW QFMRO IVTOH

OVZMA UFUIR UVEWM DWOBH UOVYO RQRZO UBWRM TOVRW RZOSZ

ITRQW COIBQ DOTUO VYORQ RZOWR MTOVR BOYRQ BWIVT RQRZO

WRMTO VRAIT OWRIR MROWC ZUYZD QBOHO BSZIB TFSML QVRZO

ARZOL BQJOW WQBCI WJUVO TUJZO DOEIV ZUWRO IYZUV EIAUV

MROFI ROQBY QVRUV MOTIA UVMRO FQVEO BRZIV RZOJU XOTRU

AOIVT WZQMF TRZUW ZILLO VRZOW RMTOV RWCZQ JIUFO TRQFO

IHORZ OFOYR MBOBQ QAUAA OTUIR OFSCO BORZO AWOFH OWJUV

OTUVI TTURU QVRZO LBQJO WWQBC IWJUV OTUJZ OWZUB KOTOX

LFIUV UVEIT UJJUY MFRLI WWIEO QBUJZ OJIUF OTRQE ORRZB

QMEZR ZOWSF FIDMW ZOCIW JUVOT UJZOF OJRRZ OYURS JQBIT

ISCUR ZQMRR UOBOY RQBWL OBAUW WUQVI VTUJZ OAIBB UOTCI

WIFFQ COTQV FSQVO TISQJ JJQBR ZOLMB LQWOR ZOYUR SJQBU

RWLIB RRQQK IZIVT UVYQV RBQFF UVERZ OLBQJ OWWQB WIVTR

ZOSCO BOJQB YOTRQ RIKOI VQIRZ VQRRQ FOIHO DQFQE VIUVW

OIBYZ QJAQB OFMYB IRUHO QBFOW WQVOB QMWLQ WRWXX

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Solution

• Most common letters: O (99) R (72) Q (59) I (50) , …

• Also common are: RZ (23)• So, guess O=e, R=t, Z=h, this gives

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theLB QJeWW QBWIt DQFQE VICeB eKeLt UVIDW QFMte IVTeH

eVhMA UFUIt UVEWM DWeBH UeVYe tQthe UBWtM TeVtW theSh

ITtQW CeIBQ DeTUe VYetQ theWt MTeVt BeYtQ BWIVT tQthe

WtMTe VtAIT eWtIt MteWC hUYhD QBeHe BShIB TFSML QVthe

AtheL BQJeW WQBCI WJUVe TUJhe DeEIV hUWte IYhUV EIAUV

MteFI teQBY QVtUV MeTIA UVMte FQVEe BthIV theJU XeTtU

AeIVT WhQMF TthUW hILLe VtheW tMTeV tWChQ JIUFe TtQFe

IHeth eFeYt MBeBQ QAUAA eTUIt eFSCe Bethe AWeFH eWJUV

eTUVI TTUtU QVthe LBQJe WWQBC IWJUV eTUJh eWhUB KeTeX

LFIUV UVEIT UJJUY MFtLI WWIEe QBUJh eJIUF eTtQE etthB

QMEht heWSF FIDMW heCIW JUVeT UJheF eJtth eYUtS JQBIT

ISCUt hQMtt UeBeY tQBWL eBAUW WUQVI VTUJh eAIBB UeTCI

WIFFQ CeTQV FSQVe TISQJ JJQBt heLMB LQWet heYUt SJQBU

tWLIB ttQQK IhIVT UVYQV tBQFF UVEth eLBQJ eWWQB WIVTt

heSCe BeJQB YeTtQ tIKeI VQIth VQttQ FeIHe DQFQE VIUVW

eIBYh QJAQB eFMYB ItUHe QBFeW WQVeB QMWLQ WtWXX

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• Now, you should use various clues. For example, Q is likely a, I, o or n. tQthe occurs several times. Here “the” is probably either a word of the beginning of another word (like “thermometer”). If so, then tQ is probably to, so Q=o.

• After trying for a while, you will recognize certain words, and so on. Eventually you find

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y zI D Y T O J E Z U P K F A V Q L G BWRM H C X S N9/09/2015

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• And, the plaintext?The professors at Bologna were kept in absolute and even

humiliating subservience to their students. They had to swear obedience to

the student rectors and to the student-made statutes, which bore very

hardly upon them. The professor was fined if he began his teaching

a minute late or continued a minute longer than the fixed time, and

should this happen the students who failed to leave the lecture-room

immediately were themselves fined. In addition, the professor was

fined if he shirked explaining a difficult passage, or if he failed to get

through the syllabus; he was fined if he left the city for a day without

the rector’s permission, and if he married, was allowed only one day

off for the purpose. The city, for its part, took a hand in controlling the

professors, and they were forced to take an oath not to leave Bologna

in search of more lucrative or less onerous posts.

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Affine cipher

• This is an especially simple substitution cipher (also called Caesar cipher)

• It is an especially simple cipher, but we need just a little bit of math.

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Modulus arithmetic

• n: an integer• means • For example, 13 because 10| (13-3)=10

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• Consider A,B,C,…, Z as 26 numbers 0,1,2,…, 25.

• Choose two numbers a,b. (a should be prime to 26, which means their greatest common divisor is 1.)

• X→ aX+b• Remark: It is very important that a is prime

to n. If not, then X→ aX+b is not one-to-one, thus it doesn’t make a proper cipher.

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• For example, suppose a=5, b=1.• If the plaintext is ABC,• A=0, 5=B• B=1, 5G• C=2, 5=L• ABC→BGL

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Math 324 15

Deciphering an Affine Cipher

• An affine cipher is a kind of substitution cipher. So, you can make a table of permutation given by aX+b. But, there is a faster way (in this art, speed is everything).

• Here’s another reason why a should be prime to n. (If you are using the English alphabet, n=26.) If a is prime to n (and only then), there is an integer a’ so that

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• Then, deciphering is done by• Y → a’(Y-b) (why?)• And, also, two questions:

1. If you are an eavesdropper Eve, how would you find the key of an affine cipher which you are eavesdropping?

2. Suppose you know the key a. How do you find its inverse a’?

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• You can use the brute force calculation, but there’s a smarter way, and it’s called the Euclidean algorithm. We will revisit this topic when we study RSA.

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Math 324 189/09/2015