Name: __________________________________________Section: ___________

Professor: __________________________Date: _______________ Score: ______

ACTIVITY 1

Try to decipher the following message using the following clues.

LETTER EQUIVALENT LETTER EQUIVALENT

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

“GSV LMOB DZB GL OVZIM NZGSVNZGRXH RH GL WL NZGSVNZGRXH”

- KZFO SZONLH

Message:

5
Name: __________________________________________Section: ___________

Professor: __________________________Date: _______________ Score: ______

ACTIVITY 2

Julius Caesar used a simple Substitution Cipher to send messages to his troops. He
used a very simple rule to replace each leer with another letter from the alphabet. He
substituted each letter by the letter that was 3 places further along in the alphabet, so
that “a” was replaced with “D”, “b” with “E” and so on.

Complete the table below to show what each leer is enciphered as using this system.

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 z
D E F

Using the Caesar Cipher, encode the name of your school. Check that you get the
same code as the person sat next to you.

Although Caesar substituted each leer with the leer 3 places ahead, there are other
variations of this cipher. You could shift each leer by 4 or 5 or 6 etc. This is called a
key, and depending on which key you use, you will get a different message.

Decode this message, which was enciphered using a Caesar Shift:

ZKHQ BRX KDYH GHFRGHG WKLV ZRUN RXW WZHQWB

VHYHQ WLPHV QLQH DQG WHOO BRXU WHDFKHU.

15
In pairs, discuss how good this cipher is at protecting messages. Can you think of any
ways to improve it?

Caesar Wheel

Directions: 1. Carefully draw and cut around two circles

2. Paste onto thin card

3. Write the alphabet in RED around the SMALL circle

4. Write the alphabet in BLACK around the LARGE circle

5. Fix the small circle onto the big circle using a paper fastener through
the centre (marked with a dot)

You are ready to use your Caesar Wheel

Remember: • plaintext letters are written in BLACK

• ciphertext letters are written in RED

ENCIPHERING = BLACK to RED

DECIPHERING = RED to BLACK

16
Name: __________________________________________Section: ___________

Professor: __________________________Date: _______________ Score: ______

ACTIVITY 3

Breaking the Code

You have been given this encrypted message, and all you know is that it has been e
ncrypted using a Mono‐alphabetic Substitution Cipher. Can you break it?

GFS WMY OG LGDVS MF SFNKYHOSU ESLLMRS, PC W BFGW POL DMFRQMRS PL OG CPFU M

UPCC5K5FO HDMPFOSXO GC OIS LMES DMFRQMRS DGFR SFGQRI OG CPDD GFS

LISSO GK LG, MFU OISG WS NGQFO OIS GNNQKKSFNSL GC SMNI D5OO5K. WS NMDO OIS

EGLO CK5JQFODY GNNQKKPFR D5OO5K OIS ‘CPKLO’ OIS FSXO EGLO GNNQKKPFR D5OO5K

OIS ‘LSNGFU’ OIS CGDDWPFR EGLO GNNQKKPFR DSOOSK OIS ‘OIPKU’, MFU LG GF, QFOPD

WS MNNGQFO CGK MDD OIS UPCCSKSFO DSOOSKL PF OIS HDMPFOSXO LMHDS. OISF WS

DGGB MO OIS NPHISK OSXO WS WMFO OG LGDVS MFU WS MDLG NOMLLPCY POL

LYEAGOL WS CPFU OIS EGLO GNNQKKPFR LYEAGD MFU NIMFRS PO OG OIS CGKE GC OIS

‘CPKLO’ DSOOSK GC OIS HDMPFOSXO LMEHDS, OIS FSXO EGLO NGEEGF LYEAGO PL NIM-

FRSU OG OIS CGKE GC OIS ‘OIPKU’ MFU LG GF, QFOPD WS MNNGQFO

17
CGK MDD LYEAGDL OIS NKYHOGRKME WS WMFO OG LGDVS.

What keyword was used to encrypt this message?

How might this information be useful?

It is an extract from A Manuscript on Deciphering Cryptographic Messages, written by

Al-Kindi around 850 A.D., but lost until found in 1987. It is the first known description
of the process we now called Frequency Analysis. The method he describes of using
a piece of text is traditionally how it was done, but today we have published figures for
the frequency of leers in written text.

Once some are starting to make some head way with the decryption, a discussion of
methods will help those who are struggling. Some key questions to help the decryption
process are

1. What is the most common letter in English? _______

2. What words in English only have 1 letter? _______

3. If there is the regularly, what letter does I represent? _______

Provided are blank tables to fill in to work out what each letter stands for will also help
to keep track of what has been done. It must be noted that “m” on top goes to “A” on
boom (this is the ciphertext turning into the plaintext).
Grids for recording leers in Breaking the Code

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 z

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 z

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 z

18
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 z

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 z

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 z

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 z

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 z

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 z

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 z

19
Name: __________________________________________Section: ___________

Professor: __________________________Date: _______________ Score: ______

ACTIVITY 4

Directions: Using the diagram on below, decipher the given sentence.

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

23
Name: __________________________________________Section: ___________

Professor: __________________________Date: _______________ Score: ______

ACTIVITY 5

A murder to solve (crypto.interactive-maths.com)

A murder has been committed in the Maths department at a nearby school.

Your job is to decode the clues to find

(a) the identity of the murderer

(b) the murder weapon

(c) the room in which the murder took place

You may take notes on this piece of paper as you proceed through the investigation.

When you have finished you must be prepared to justify your decisions to the class.

The seven suspects are:

Mr X Dr Z Mr F Miss K

Mr Y Mr Q Mr G

The possible murder weapons are:

Ruler Chair Scissors Compass

Textbook Pencil Stapler

The room in which the murder was committed could be:

16 23 24 25 28 29 Computer room

30
Code 1: Pigpen

This code uses the following key. You need to work out how to use the key to decode
the message which follows.

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

31
Code 2: Polybius square

This code uses the following key. You need to work out how to use the key to decode
the message which follows.

5 A B C D E

4 F G H I J

3 K L M N O

2 P Q R S T

1 U V W X Y/Z

1 2 3 4 5

(5,2)(3,4)(5,5) (3,3)(1,1)(3,2)(4,5)(5,5)(3,2)(5,5)(3,2) (4,5)(5,3)(5,5)(4,2)

(4,3)(5,3)(5,2) (3,4)(1,5)(2,1)(5,5)(1,5)(4,3) (5,5) (4,4)(4,3)

(5,2)(3,4)(5,5)(4,4)(3,2) (4,3)(1,5)(3,3)(5,5) (2,5)(1,1)(5,2) (3,4)(1,5)(4,2)

(2,3)(5,5)(5,2)(5,2)(5,5)(3,2) (4,5).

32
Code 3

Each letter is represented by a different number in a simple way, using the key a = 1,
b = 2, c = 3, d = 4, etc.

20,8,5 13,21,18,4,5,18 23,1,19 14,15,20 9,14 1 16,18,9,13,5

14,21,13,2,5,18,5,4 18,15,15,13

Code 4: Atbash

Each letter is represented by a different letter in a simple way.

GSV ILLN MFNYVI RH Z NFOGRKOV LU ULFI

33
Code 5: Caesar Cipher

You will need a Caesar wheel to crack this code.

KYV DLIUVIVIJ ERDV NZCC KVCC PFL NYRK TFLEKIP YV ZJ WIFD

34
Code 6: Morse Code

This code uses the following key. You need to work out how to use the key to decode
the message which follows.

A .- N -.

B -... O ---

C -.-. P .--.

D -.. Q --.-

E . R .-.

F ..-. S ...

G --. T -

H .... U ..-

I .. V ...-

J .--- W .--

K -.- X -..-

L .-.. Y -.--

M -- Z --..

- .... . / .-. --- --- -- / -. ..- -- -... . .-. / .... .- ... / . .. --. .... - / ..-. .- -.-. - --- .-. ... /

35
Code 7: The final challenge

This looks disturbingly familiar, but there’s something weird about it...

-.- -.. -.-. / --.- -..- ..-. / -- .-. --/ --.- -. / -- -..- / .-. -.-. / -.-- -. .-

--.- .--- -.-- -... / ..-. .-. -.-. --.- / -... -..- ...- -. -.-. --.- .-. .— .--. /

-.-. --.- .--- -.-. / -... -.-. -.. --

-. .-- -.-. -... / .-.. .--- .-- / -...

.-. -.-. / -..- .-- /

36
Code 1 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Code 2 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Code 3 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Code 4 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

37
Code 5 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Code 6 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Code 7 says:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

38