Melchior talks Crypto (codes & ciphers)
- Scytale (Link)
This ancient tool, around 500 B.C.E of the Greeks and Spartans, was widely used in
the communication of military messages.
- Aeneas Disk (Link)
Around 400 B.C.E. the Greek general Aeneas Tactics devised several enciphering tools. One of these, the Disk, went on
to be perfected by the Romans.
- Substitution Slide (Link)
Various historical works reference the ways in which code tables, or tableu, are to be used.
This is an example of how the ciphers such as the Trithemius, della Porta, Vigenere, etc ciphers
may be encoded or decoded using a simple slide type machine. While the principle is simple this basic technique remained
in use as late as the 1940s. For more information on later variations, check out the M-138 Cipher Device, and related
documentation.
- Grilles(Link)
The Cardan Grille uses a mask over an otherwise nondescript message to create a new message by removing each word from
its original context within the set. While this method is repeatable it is limited in its reusability, due to the difficulty
of creating a plaintext which adheres to the existing grille and does not belie its own subterfuge.
- Cipher Wheels(Link)
These devices are designed to aid in the process of performing substitution enciphering and deciphering. The ease at which
these tools may be used advanced the idea of a key pased polyalphabetic cipher system.