In this article: https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7a3gz/ … llers-code Sam Blake says:
"I mean there’s relatively similar schemes from a 1950s US Army cryptography manual that wasn’t declassified until like 2014. Mind you he could have also gotten this from a book called “The Codebreakers,"
So is it the case that it was in the army manual, or was it in The Codebreakers? Or was there something similar in either The Codebreakers or some other coding manual which Zodiac could have adapted?
Where did he get the encoding scheme from? Because if it is an army manual surely that impacts on the POI list?
Posting "codes & ciphers " to keep this interesting topic well fed for research
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx2ZxPLdifaoZUFJMTJnN1RqMTg/view
Marcelo
https://zodiacode1933.blogspot.com/
Posting "codes & ciphers " to keep this interesting topic well fed for research
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx2ZxPLdifaoZUFJMTJnN1RqMTg/view
Marcelo
Thanks ! I had to purchase the french version to learn a bit about ciphers. It’s named "Petit code des codes secrets", which litterally means "A small guide to secret codes".
Page 32 introduces Francis Bacon’s cipher, which is very close to Delastelle’s, which I think the Zodiac used in the Z13 cipher.
Mr Fayzr
In Brazilian literature there are not many publications.
However, some time ago,
I have a great book with all forms of coding and decoding written by a Brazilian historian. "Codigos e Cifras da antiguidade a historia moderna" ( codes & ciphers from antiquity to modern history")
Marcelo
https://zodiacode1933.blogspot.com/
Page 7 not of interest to anyone ?
Page 7 not of interest to anyone ?
I guess I find it interesting because the 1st two transposed sections of the 340 cipher are each 17 x 9, which equals 153 total symbols in each section, and 153 can be made into an equilateral 17 sided triangle.
Do you think he used a triangle like this to transpose the message? If so can you explain? The stuff I’ve tried so far doesn’t seem to work right.
If the solution is correct and as simple as one down two across, a skytale cipher, as pointed out by paul_averly on viewtopic.php?f=81&t=5088#p82855 then the take-home message is this one – the FBI’s top analysts (or whoever for that matter) stopped at one down one across when testing skytales or when the second half of the code didn’t work out, rejected one down two across.
This means the hypothesis that top cryptographers had already gone through known ciphers was faulty. One down, two across isn’t one down, six across. One down, two across is after one down, one across.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scytale
So the Army cryptography manual claim should have something exclusive to it and the Z340 to stand out, otherwise, this looks like a basic cipher technique known to the world since at least the 1st century with claims it has been around since the 7th century BC.
The Zodiac botches ciphers. Seems to be going for known ones found in the first few chapters of an average cryptography book.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the Z13 method is probably on the next few pages of whatever book he is using as the one in the link above.
Stopped doing them beyond that.
Can’t turn someone into a cryptology expert in a few months. He was called out on it and failed. Sorry, no cipher.
Anyway the fact his name isn’t in the Z340 means gives credibility to it being in another communication.
www.zodiachalloweencard.com has a 400 paged book for free containing the super solution with an overarching explanation of the cards and more.
Page 7 not of interest to anyone ?
I guess I find it interesting because the 1st two transposed sections of the 340 cipher are each 17 x 9, which equals 153 total symbols in each section, and 153 can be made into an equilateral 17 sided triangle.
Do you think he used a triangle like this to transpose the message? If so can you explain? The stuff I’ve tried so far doesn’t seem to work right.
Sorry meant page 5 and the first 5 letter cipher example on the page, it looks VERY familiar
Hi Mr Cragle
II found it interesting for two reasons, obviously length 17, and a transposition, which may have inspired that of the z340, is not necessarily the same (and it is not the same, unless something has escaped me), but, something that may have inspired . Which, contextually, is plausible.
Marcelo
https://zodiacode1933.blogspot.com/
Page 7 not of interest to anyone ?
Amazing coincidence.
There’s a few interesting features to this manual, that make it a good candidate.
– It was declassified in 1959.
– Triangular transposition systems feature very early in the manual (page 6).
– The mode of presentation is very BASIC, and it would be procedurally easy to follow (the triangular transposition instructions are just over a page long).
In short, its perfect for the non-expert cryptographer. That said, the substitution section is somewhat more complicated than the transposition section.
