Tool for automatic Shift Cipher that consists in replacing a letter by another one in the alphabet using a shifting system, a basic or complex sequence of numbers.
Shift Cipher - dCode
Tag(s) : Substitution Cipher
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A shift cipher is a substitution cipher, the principle of which is to shift the letters by one or more values in the alphabet.
Example: The letter A shifted by 1 place in the alphabet becomes B
The Caesar cipher is a shift cipher, usually presented with a shift key of value 3.
The shift cipher encryption uses an alphabet and a key (made up of one or more values) that shifts the position of its letters.
A letter in position $ N $ in the alphabet, can be shifted by $ X $ into the letter located at position $ N+X $ (This is equivalent to using a substitution with a shifted alphabet).
Example: Take the letter E in position 5 in the alphabet ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, it will be encrypted by a shift of 3 in position 8 or H.
If the shifted position exceeds the number of letters in the alphabet, then take it at the beginning (imagine the alphabet as cyclical)
Example: Z shifted by 1 gives A.
It is thus possible to define different types of shifts, some shifts correspond to known encryption algorithms:
A single shift (all letters are shifted by the same value) is called Caesar Code.
A multiple shift, according to a sequence or a key that is repeated (the letters are shifted from each of the key values), is called Vigenere Cipher.
A mathematical shift, the easier is progressive, shifting the nth letter of the value n is the Trithemius Cipher or if the shift is more complex Affine Cipher or even Hill Cipher.
Decryption requires knowing the shift used and the alphabet.
Take a letter in position N in the alphabet that has been encrypted by a shift of X, it must be shifted by -X to return to its original position N-X.
Example: The letter H in position 8 in the alphabet ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, will be decrypted from a shift of 3 in position 8-3=5 or E.
Example: The word TIJGU is decoded with an offset of 1 as SHIFT
The shift cipher can take a date as key (called date shift cipher), generally in the formats YYYYMMDD is used as it contains a series of 8 digits which can be used as the shift key.
Example: DATECODE coded with the date 2020/10/10 or (2,0,2,0,1,0,1,0) becomes FAVEDOEE
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Cite as source (bibliography):
Shift Cipher on dCode.fr [online website], retrieved on 2023-09-23,