7 ms·
Can you crack a code?
- iaskwhy 14y agoIs the answer in English? Are there any tips on cracking a code when you don't know the language being used?
- jgrahamc 14y agoYes, it is an English. It is a very simple code. I would recommend printing it out and using a pencil to break it.
- dutchbrit 14y agoIndeed, it didn't really take that much effort.
- iaskwhy 14y agoI used to play Covert Action when I was a kid and decoding messages was part of the missions: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110118005142/covertaction/images/6/6e/Decoding_EasyCompleted.png http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110118005142/coverta...
- C1D 14y agoYes the answer is in English. It's pretty easy to crack but may take some time if this is your first time. To do this you need to use Letter Frequency. Since 'e' is the most common letter in the English language you can look for the most common character in the text and assume it is 'e', and if it isn't try another letter. For a list of the most common letters, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_frequency.
- royalsporks 14y agoIt's quite simple to get through.
- carlsednaoui 14y agoIf you have zero experience in cryptography, how would you go about learning the necessary to crack this?
- deif 14y agoA good think about how you would exchange letters can solve this code as they've just given you the most simple example. You could read through a few ebooks available on cyptography freely on the internet, but you don't even need to do that in this case, I could just tell you. The most common letter used in the english language is 'e'. Now identify the dot pattern that is the most common. Voila, you can translate a lot of the code. For the other letters, I would investigate some sort of chart that ranks the most common letters in the English alphabet. With a bit of playing you can do this with a pencil and paper. Obviously computer cryptography is more advanced, but your question related to this code specifically.
- bluedino 14y ago> Obviously computer cryptography is more advanced Wouldn't a single message from an unknown cipher be almost impossible to crack? You'd either need to know the algorithm or have multiple encoded messages along with the keys, right?
- youngerdryas 14y agoA one time pad cipher can be considered unbreakable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-time_pad
- nijk 14y agoNot necessarily, because some ciphers retain statistical information about the plaintext . any prior knowledge about the shape of the plaintext can give you better than flat random chance of recognizing he decrypt.
- jgrahamc 14y agoThis is a very simple code to break. Helen Fouché Gaines' book Cryptanalysis (published in 1939) is a good introduction : http://www.amazon.com/Cryptanalysis-Study-Ciphers-Their-Solution/dp/0486200973 http://www.amazon.com/Cryptanalysis-Study-Ciphers-Their-Solu...
- mu_killnine 14y ago"Be...sure...to drink your Ovaltine?"
- husted 14y agoI much prefer what IBM is doing with their Ponder This challenges (http://domino.research.ibm.com/Comm/wwwr_ponder.nsf/pages/index.html http://domino.research.ibm.com/Comm/wwwr_ponder.nsf/pages/in...). Only problem is that I'm not smart enough to answer all of them :-)
- rtb 14y ago"To learn more about the types of ciphers and codes that terrorists, spies, and criminals use to conceal their communications, see ..." made me laugh. Remember kids, only bad guys use encryption.
- tptacek 14y agoThat's not what they're trying to say; criminals just happen to be the reason the FBI cares about code breaking.
- nijk 14y agoThe FBI is interested in legal peaceful advocates for government change. Why did they leave that part out of their pitch? Propaganda, even if they didn't "mean" it, because they have alert convinced themselves of the lie.
- tptacek 14y agoI am not smart enough to understand what this comment means, sorry.
- n3rdy 14y agonot too long ago, the act of making, using, or distributing encryption software made you a criminal in the eyes of the fbi
- tptacek 14y agoIn reality, it has never been a crime to use or distribute encryption software.
- brandan 14y agoyou can use scrabble word pattern searches to determine that there is only one english word that matches the pattern of the largest set of characters in this cypher. the rest falls into place from there.
- SonicSoul 14y agocan you elaborate ? longest word appears to be 9 letters which has a lot of matches.
- ColinWright 14y agoIt's nine letters, but there are repeats in specific places. Letters 1 and 6 are the same, 3 and 5 are the same, 4 and 9 are the same, limiting your options.
- SonicSoul 14y agoagreed but how can such a pattern be entered into a scrabble word finder?
- ColinWright 14y agoNo idea about that because I've never used one - I just rolled my own from python.
- brandan 14y agohttp://www.design215.com/toolbox/wordpattern.php http://www.design215.com/toolbox/wordpattern.php it's a pattern search, not just a character count search. check the instructions and examples, they're pretty straight-forward.
- SonicSoul 14y agowow. of course! that worked like a charm. this just made my week :)
- ceautery 14y agoFrom the javascript: var bugRiddenCrashPronePieceOfJunk= (navigator.userAgent.indexOf('MSIE 5')!==-1 && navigator.userAgent.indexOf('Mac')!==-1) I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment, but I don't think FBI should disparage Microsoft and Apple with their variable names.
- WiseWeasel 14y agoThey are disparaging MSIE 5 for MacOS X in particular, which is indeed a piece of junk that no one should be using. That's just facts.
- codezero 14y agoPretty sure this is referring only to IE for Mac, not IE and MacOS separately.
- runjake 14y agoMicrosoft and Apple both have publicly disparaged the obsolete IE for Mac, so why shouldn't the FBI? It's very, very out of date and highly-vulnerable. It's not like something that would show up on CNN.
- yownie 14y agoDon't work for the fbi, they're fucking bastards.
- losethos 14y ago"Bad things come in threes"? 1) I have to change my name at social security cause it got messed up. The mental health like to stress me. One time a person knocked on our door needing 911. They employ actor/agents all the time. They store away shit they can pull on you like warrants. 2) Jury duty. They cut my phones so I cannot call. I'm gonna get a warrant. This replaces the shit they can pull on me. 3) Blood work ---- Evil fucks. I know God is perfectly just. I'm supposed to worry or some shit. 4) Dad had surgury--fucks with me. 5) I got a plugged ear ---- The shit gets piled higher if you don't give a fuck. ---- 6) Cut the phones.
- gcatalfamo 14y agowas this supposed to be hard? I hope they don't plan their recruiting out of it