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9 votes
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Programming challenge: undo this "Caesar" cipher.
Disclaimer: I'm a novice and this is a half baked idea Recap The Caesar cipher is fairly straight forward as it just shifts letters along by a set amount. This means that it's quite easy to brute...
Disclaimer: I'm a novice and this is a half baked idea
Recap
The Caesar cipher is fairly straight forward as it just shifts letters along by a set amount. This means that it's quite easy to brute force. There's only 25 offsets, after all. Try to decode this to see what i mean:
Plqfh 3 foryhv ri jduolf, dqg frpelqh lq d vpdoo erzo zlwk pdbrqqdlvh, dqfkrylhv, 2 wdeohvsrrqv ri wkh Sduphvdq fkhhvh, Zrufhvwhuvkluh vdxfh, pxvwdug dqg ohprq mxlfh. Vhdvrq wr wdvwh zlwk vdow dqg eodfn shsshu. Uhiuljhudwh xqwlo uhdgb wr xvh. Khdw rlo lq d odujh iublqj sdq ryhu phglxp khdw. Fxw wkh uhpdlqlqj 3 foryhv ri jduolf lqwr txduwhuv, dqg dgg wr krw rlo. Frrn dqg vwlu xqwlo eurzq, dqg wkhq uhpryh jduolf iurp sdq. Dgg euhdg fxehv wr wkh krw rlo. Frrn, wxuqlqj iuhtxhqwob, xqwlo oljkwob eurzqhg. Uhpryh euhdg fxehv iurp rlo, dqg vhdvrq zlwk vdow dqg shsshu. Sodfh ohwwxfh lq d odujh erzo. Wrvv zlwk guhvvlqj, uhpdlqlqj Sduphvdq fkhhvh, dqg vhdvrqhg euhdg fxehv.
bonus points for a program that takes the above text and outputs the shift I used without any human inputMy dumb idea (didn't work, my bad. They're in normal Caeser cipher now)
I like the simplicity of the shifting characters but having it always be in one direction, and always being the same offset makes it easy to notice the pattern and decode.
If we have the shift value determined by the length of the current word, and the direction of it dependent on if it's a vowel or a consonant.
a pirate is nothing without his ship
becomes
b jolgnk kq gvmapgz ppmavbm elp odml
so we still have a visibly Caesar-y cipher, but we'll know it's not a true Caesar cipher.
The offset changes for every word and then is applied based on each letter in the word. If it's a vowel, then the encoded value is shifted upwards but if not, it slides down.For the purposes of the below tomfoolery; prime numbers are consonants and the rest are vowels.
A Valley Without Wind 1 and 2 Steam Key: B qjsbuf jt opuijoh xjuipvu ijt tijq FWR0H-GQM7B-5344H Aces Wild: Manic Brawling Action: C rktcvg ku pqvjkpi ykvjqwv jku ujkr K5R0H-29NPM-A3OTE Age of Empires Legacy Bundle: D sludwh lv qrwklqj zlwkrxw klv vkls 69PQW-UY3H7-7SQWT AI War + 4 DLC packs & Tidalis Steam Key: E tmvexi mw rsxlmrk amxlsyx lmw wlmt KO99D-73JZ2-XNIK3 AI War: Vengeance Steam Key: F unwfyj nx stymnsl bnymtzy mnx xmnu 7M2I8-I99N9-6E9F2 Alan Wake Collector's Edition Steam Key: G voxgzk oy tuznotm coznuaz noy ynov 6ZNJ5-BIVFN-6ZSDZ Alan Wake's American Nightmare Steam Key: H wpyhal pz uvaopun dpaovba opz zopw 7RERD-4ACYN-TCDQ2 Amnesia: Dark Descent Steam Key: I xqzibm qa vwbpqvo eqbpwcb pqa apqx VGEO8-OU48X-MU7BL Anachronox: J yrajcn rb wxcqrwp frcqxdc qrb bqry 3589L-YGF9V-NKGW0 Anodyne: K zsbkdo sc xydrsxq gsdryed rsc crsz 9HW7H-7Z73Z-6302D Anomaly Defenders: L atclep td yzestyr hteszfe std dsta ICPIB-M63TI-9Y96V Anomaly Korea: M budmfq ue zaftuzs iuftagf tue etub QMPZ2-JUK8B-JRK3V Anomaly Korea: N cvengr vf abguvat jvgubhg uvf fuvc 30R9T-C02AA-7DQLG Anomaly Warzone Earth: O dwfohs wg bchvwbu kwhvcih vwg gvwd 38UM9-Z26PH-Q4VAU Anomaly Warzone Earth Mobile Campaign: P exgpit xh cdiwxcv lxiwdji wxh hwxe 54TYN-AU26Q-5AGGY Aquaria Steam key: Q fyhqju yi dejxydw myjxekj xyi ixyf 3853A-YSB4J-6243A Awesomenauts: R gzirkv zj efkyzex nzkyflk yzj jyzg DH9T5-BWOQC-KB6TB Awesomenauts: S hajslw ak fglzafy oalzgml zak kzah RNRJ0-CPT4O-S9UHE Awesomenauts Cluck Costume: T ibktmx bl ghmabgz pbmahnm abl labi VOWWW-QTR3Q-EAS9J
These are encoded using a Caeser shift. The line under the title is a fixed phrase (a pirate is nothing without his ship) for aid in the bonus points
I can post my code if it turns out to be unsolvable (like a bug https://trinket.io/python/dabf2b61f9), but if not; I can also keep going from letters A to Y (sans U) over the weeks with my humble bundle reserves (plaintext or not). I've had these keys for far too long and I'm never going to actually use them, but I also noticed a surge of keys being donated here so figured I might as well change it up.
Have fun
9 votes