Since ancient times, cryptography has been the crystallization of human wisdom, which has played a vital role not only in warfare, but also in politics, business, and even personal emotional communication. From messengers in ancient Greece to modern cyber hackers, cryptography has always been an important means of protecting information security. Today, Madman will take you into the world of cryptography and explore the passwords that have changed the world.
斯巴达的密语:Scytale
In the BC world, the Spartans had mastered a simple but effective way to pass passwords - Scytale. This tool, made of wooden sticks and parchment, wraps the parchment on which the message is written on it, and then unravels it, making the message meaningless until it is correctly interpreted. The message will only become apparent when the parchment is rewound onto a stick of the same circumference. This seemingly simple approach is actually a fundamental principle of cryptography – only those who have the right key can decipher the true meaning of the message.
Variations of Caesar: The Caesar Code
Julius Caesar, the Roman general, was not only known for his military prowess, but also for his contributions to cryptography. The Caesar cipher, a replacement cipher by moving each letter of the alphabet in a fixed number, was a common means used by Julius Caesar in his correspondence with his Roman friends. It is said that Caesar had a keen interest in cryptography and even wrote a paper specifically for his encryption techniques. The simplicity of the Caesars cipher made it an important milestone in the history of cryptography.
Secrets of Freemasonry: Masonic Code/Pigsty Code
In the 18th century, Freemasons used a unique cryptographic system to keep their information safe – the Freemasonic cipher, also known as the pigsty cipher or Napoleonic cipher. This cipher encrypts information by locating letters in a grid and using the angles and dots formed by the grid lines to represent the letters. The history of the Masonic cipher was mentioned as early as 1531 by the German polymath Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Its use continued into the 18th century and became a common means of communication among Freemasons.
The Sun King's ciphertext: Louis XIV's Great Code
Louis XIV's Great Code, created by Antoine and Bonaventur Rossinhoor father and son, was a cipher system used to convey sensitive political information. Unlike the previous 26 symbols, the big password uses 587 numbers to represent the French syllables, and uses specific numbers to represent the deletion operation, which greatly increases the complexity of the password. The code remained uncracked for 200 years until the beginning of the 20th century, when it was unraveled by cryptographer Etienne Bazeris. The successful use of big cryptography not only demonstrates the important role of cryptography in the political field, but also proves that the development of cryptography has reached a new height.
Jefferson's Wisdom: The Jefferson Roulette Code
Thomas Jefferson, the founding father of the United States, was not only a politician, but also a cryptographer. He even invented several of his own ciphers. Jefferson's roulette password is a cryptographic tool he created during his tenure as U.S. ambassador to France. This password encrypts information by turning the wheel through a wooden roulette wheel covered with letters. The sender will write a normal sentence as a single line, and then, while the wheel is in that position, copy the next string of meaningless letters, sending only this string of meaningless letters to the receiver. By reproducing this string of letters on the recipient's wheel, the recipient reproduces the real message. The invention of Jefferson's roulette cipher not only demonstrated the application of cryptography in personal communication, but also demonstrated Jefferson's great importance to information security.
The language of the telegraph age: Morse code
At the beginning of the 19th century, the invention of the telegraph made it possible to transmit information over long distances in a very short time. American inventor Samuel Morse patented a binary system, Morse code, which replaces numbers and letters with dots and strokes. Although Morse code greatly improves the efficiency of information transfer, it also comes with privacy concerns. Because the operators of telegrams need to know the contents of each message, the confidentiality of private communications is challenged. In order to solve this problem, people began to use Morse code in combination with other encryption methods, first encrypting information and then converting it into Morse code for transmission.
Cipher Giant at War: Enigma Cipher Machine
The Enigma cipher machine, a seemingly ordinary typewriter, was actually one of the most powerful communication tools in the Nazi German army during World War II. Enigma cipher machines are able to automatically encrypt the input text through a series of complex rotors and plug-in boards, which are transmitted by radio. Despite the extremely high security of the Enigma cipher machine, Polish cryptographers managed to crack it. This achievement not only demonstrates the decisive role of cryptography in warfare, but also proves the infinite possibilities of human wisdom in the fight against tyranny.
The Miracle of Language: The Navajo Code
During World War II, the U.S. Marine Corps chose a complex and little-known unwritten language, Navajo, in order to create a code that could not be cracked. Twenty-nine Navajo Nation people were recruited to create the code, and they became known as "Navajo Coders" and participated in every Marine Corps operation in the Pacific Theater. The Navajo language is quite complex and was used as a code on U.S. military radio during the Pacific War to make it more difficult for the Japanese to crack the U.S. code. Until the end of the war, this system had not been cracked by Japan. It was not until 1968 that this top-secret project was declassified. The successful use of the Navajo Code not only proves the importance of cryptography in modern warfare, but also demonstrates the exploitation and utilization of the potential of language.
These ciphers are not only the transformation of words, but also the witnesses of history, they witness the flash of human wisdom, and prove the importance of information confidentiality at critical moments. Today, despite the rapid pace of technology, cryptography is still an important tool for us to protect privacy and safeguard national security. And these legendary codes will always be a bright pearl in the long river of human history.