Season 03 • Episode 09 • The Caesar cipher
0The Caesar cipher
Season 03
Episode 09 Time frame 1 period
Prerequisites :
Coneptsofryptography.Objectives :
•
Disover asimple enryption algorithm.•
Pratise the enryption and deryption proesses.Materials :
•
Beamer about the Caesaripher.•
Lesson about the Caesaripher.1 – How the Caesar cipher works 15 mins
The teaher explains, with a beamer,the history of the Caesar ipherand how it works.
2 – Coding and decoding a short message 20 mins
Eahstudentenodesasimplequestionthathe willsendtoanotherstudent,whowillde-
ode thequestionusingthekeyindiatedbythesender, andthensendbak anenrypted
answer.
3 – Breaking the code 20 mins
The Caesar cipher
Season 03 Episode 09 Document Lesson
Aording to Suetonius, a historian in the Roman Empire, Julius Caesar used a simple
ode topreserve the serey of some messages.
If he had anything ondential to say, he wrote it in ipher, that is, by so
hanging the order of the letters of the alphabet, that not a word ould be
made out. If anyone wishes to deipher these, and get at their meaning, he
mustsubstitutethefourthletterofthealphabet,namelyD,forA,andsowith
the others.
Anyenryptiontehniqueinwhiheahletterintheplaintextisreplaedbyalettersome
xed number of positionsdown the alphabet has beome known asa Caesar ipher.
An example
v e n i v i d i v i i
Y H Q L Y L G L Y L F L
The implementation chain of a cipher
Sender Reeiver
This isplain
text, that
anyone ould
read if it
weresentwi-
thout being
enoded.
This isplain
text, that
anyone ould
read if it
weresentwi-
thout being
enoded.
Plaintext Plaintext
Wklv lv hq
hqfubswhg
whaw
xquhdgdeoh
zlwkrxw
iluvw ehlqj
ghfubswhg.
Algorithm Ciphertext Algorithm