Cryptanalysis

Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, "hidden", and analýein, "to loosen" or "to untie") is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information which is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves finding a secret key. In non-technical language, this is the practice of codebreaking or cracking the code, although "break" can also mean just a part of a complete solution.

People have been making and breaking codes for many centuries. In the 1930s specialized machines were invented to do the calculations. Code-breaking machines such as the Colossus computer were important during World War II. Computers were the main tool of cryptanalysis in the Cold War and later.

Related pages

• Code
• Cryptography

References

• Helen Fouché Gaines, "Cryptanalysis", 1939, Dover.

  Template-specific style sheet:

  ISBN 0-486-20097-3

Other websites

• Basic Cryptanalysis
• Simon Singh's crypto corner
• Distributed Computing Projects
• UltraAnvil tool for attacking simple substitution ciphers
• A lot of real encrypted messages on newsgroups
• A javascript codesystems solver for many types of ciphers, with examples
• The National Museum of Computing Cipher Challenge