How can it be possible that a text can’t be read? A text that is unreadable to a human or a computer.
What’s the point of a text, that can’t be read, you may ask, well…
Cipher + Text
Actually, it can be readable if you have the proper cipher for decrypting it but for everyone else who doesn’t have the cipher – it’s literally just a cipher, that makes no sense.
If you don’t know what’s decryption, don’t worry, It’s the process of transforming the ciphertext into readable plaintext.
The definition of ciphertext:
“Cipher is an algorithm that is applied to plain text to get ciphertext.”
Ciphertext sometimes can be referred to as just “cipher”
There is a variety of types of ciphertext, some older, some newer, and also the ways to both decrypt and use them varies from one cipher to another.
6 Types of The Mighty “Cipher”
Let’s start with the older ones.
And just to make it clear – they’re older than you expected.
Substitution cipher also called the Caesar cipher (named after Julius Caesar) is really simple for us modern-day people (it’s just replacing plaintext letters with other letters from the alphabet).
Polyalphabetic Substitution Cipher is a substitution cipher, surprisingly.
Some of its examples are:
- Vigenère cipher
- Enigma Machine
To decrypt this cipher a mixed alphabet is used, it’s really ancient as well.
A transposition cipher is formerly known as Rail Fence Cipher and all what it basically is – a permutation of the plaintext or in other words the arranging of letters into a sequence or an order and that brings us to the next historical cipher.
Permutation Cipher: Since we already defined what’s permutation – this one isn’t a secret for us.
Alright, enough with these old, historical ciphers because why would you want to learn something unsafe and easy to read for anyone, maybe even to a chimp.
There are 2 types of modern ciphers that are widely used:
- Private-key cryptography
- and Public-key cryptography
If you want to use a cipher, then these are the ones you should use because they are way safer and can resist more attackers than the historical ciphers.
Both of them need a key that is shared with the sender and the receiver before sending the ciphertext.
Ciphertext Is a Partner of Yours
What’s ciphertext and what it is used for isn’t a secret for you anymore.
Now when you’ll need to send a secret message, it won’t matter if you’re a dictator or a regular person, because now you know the types of cipher and you can choose which one to use.
But I friendly recommend you to use modern ciphers like private-key and public-key to keep your messages safe and secure.
