About the Cipher
The Row Transposition Cipher is a transposition cipher. Unlike substitution ciphers that change letters, this method keeps the original letters but shuffles their order. It was historically used to provide a higher level of security by breaking up the frequency patterns of common words.
How It Works
- Define a Key: A word or number determines the number of columns and the order in which they are read.
- Create a Grid: The message is written row-by-row into a table. If gaps remain at the end, they are filled with "X".
- Determine Order: Sort the characters of the key alphabetically to assign a priority to each column.
- Read Columns: Extract letters column-by-column according to the sorted key order to form the ciphertext.
Interactive Tool
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