Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ComCypher t1_ixpt5a1 wrote

Reply to comment by BrokenEye3 in Emperor Charles V's secret code cracked after five centuries by IslandChillin

I'm most curious to know how one cracks a word-based substitution without knowing the key.

41

rockdog85 t1_ixpuunu wrote

​

One of the senders scribbled part of the code in the margins, which helped to find more similarities

45

JRCIII t1_ixr7ps5 wrote

Usually its based on symbol patterns in the letter. If they can decode one or two common phrases the rest kinda falls into place over time.

Things they look for are double consonants or where two symbols are paired together.

i.e if you have a letter where the words "Space and "Race" are used then in theory the "-ace" portion of both words should use the same symbols. So plug that in everywhere you see the corresponding symbols, then work fill in as many of those as possible using other repeating patterns and guess and check.

18

konichiwaaaaaa t1_ixr8b3o wrote

They made out one sentence. That’s often the flaw of encryption methods. It can be like Sudoku, where if you know some symbols you can find others.

10