Codes & Ciphers

Let's begin this report with an explanation of a secret message:

Secret messages would not be around if there were not secrets. Secrets that, in the wrong hands, could cause much trouble. Secrets that would reveal what you were planning to do. People probably thought that the best way to do that was to, if the secret got out, was to confuse the enemy. This is (I think) the way codes started. Another different reason people use codes today is for entertainment.

Next, let's write about codes and ciphers. All codes have one thing in common. They substitute words for words or phrases. Ciphers, however, often substitute letters for letters. Other times numbers happen to end up substituted for letters. Or symbols. Therefore you don't have to carry large code books. However, the advantage of ciphers is also it's disadvantage, because if in a code if you know what jam means, you don't know what am means. How ever, in a cipher if you know what jam is, You know what am is.

There are many ciphers. To name a few, there are:

Substitution ciphers are ciphers that substitute letters for letters.

The pigpen cipher is illustrated in figure 1 and 2. For the letter you want encoded, find the letter on figure 1. Then find the corresponding area on figure 2. Then write the corresponding area on the bottom (with the dot, if there is any). See example in figure 3.

The semaphore cipher* used to be popular in England. Flags were some times used to send the semaphore cipher. The semaphore cipher was sent by a person on a mountaintop. The person is stationed on a mountain top and used poles. Anyone below with a telescope could see it for miles. Semaphore codes were the most popular until the Morse code was invented.

Morse code can use electric current. It is probably the most famous. Also, it is one of the easiest codes. When sent on paper it uses dots and dashes. When sent over radio it consists of dits and dahs. A dit is a short tone and a dah is long tone.

Transposition ciphers are scrambled-letter ciphers. Scrambling in this case means rearranging the letters.

Figure 1.. Pigpen Code Part One

Figure 2.. Pigpen Code Part Two

Figure 3.. Pigpen Example

I made my own code. It goes like this:

• A=N And vice versa.
• B=O And vice versa.
• C=P And vice versa.
• D=Q And vice versa.
• E=R And vice versa.
• F=S And vice versa.
• H=U And vice versa.
• I=V And vice versa.
• J=W And vice versa.
• K=X And vice versa.
• L=Y And vice versa.
• M=Z And vice versa.

Codes are far from ending. New codes are being invented all the time. After all I just invented one. Codes, and their importance should be around for several more decades. Maybe they will be around forever. Generally, codes are pretty important.

New technology can help with the boring part of code breaking. For example, computer programs are being created to solve ciphers all the time. My dad and I created one. It will be available over the Internet.

Bibliography

Gardner,Martin Codes, Ciphers and Secret Writing. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

http://www.comsec.com/

Zinn, Herbert S. Codes and Secret Writing. New York: Morrow,William and company.