Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Scytale
Summary
In cryptography, a scytale (ˈskɪtəliː; also transliterated skytale, σκυτάλη skutálē "baton, cylinder", also σκύταλον skútalon) is a tool used to perform a transposition cipher, consisting of a cylinder with a strip of parchment wound around it on which is written a message. The ancient Greeks, and the Spartans in particular, are said to have used this cipher to communicate during military campaigns.
The recipient uses a rod of the same diameter on which the parchment is wrapped to read the message.
Suppose the rod allows one to write four letters around in a circle and five letters down the side of it.
The plaintext could be: "I am hurt very badly help".
To encrypt, one simply writes across the leather:
| | | | | | | | I | a | m | h | u | | | r | t | v | e | r || | | y | b | a | d | l | | | y | h | e | l | p | | | | | | | |
so the ciphertext becomes, "Iryyatbhmvaehedlurlp" after unwinding. To decrypt, all one must do is wrap the leather strip around the rod and read across. The ciphertext is: "Iryyatbhmvaehedlurlp" Every fifth letter will appear on the same line, so the plaintext (after re-insertion of spaces) becomes: "I am hurt very badly help". From indirect evidence, the scytale was first mentioned by the Greek poet Archilochus, who lived in the 7th century BC. Other Greek and Roman writers during the following centuries also mentioned it, but it was not until Apollonius of Rhodes (middle of the 3rd century BC) that a clear indication of its use as a cryptographic device appeared. A description of how it operated is not known from before Plutarch (50–120 AD): The dispatch-scroll is of the following character. When the ephors send out an admiral or a general, they make two round pieces of wood exactly alike in length and thickness, so that each corresponds to the other in its dimensions, and keep one themselves, while they give the other to their envoy. These pieces of wood they call scytalae.
| | | | | | | | I | a | m | h | u | | | r | t | v | e | r || | | y | b | a | d | l | | | y | h | e | l | p | | | | | | | |
so the ciphertext becomes, "Iryyatbhmvaehedlurlp" after unwinding. To decrypt, all one must do is wrap the leather strip around the rod and read across. The ciphertext is: "Iryyatbhmvaehedlurlp" Every fifth letter will appear on the same line, so the plaintext (after re-insertion of spaces) becomes: "I am hurt very badly help". From indirect evidence, the scytale was first mentioned by the Greek poet Archilochus, who lived in the 7th century BC. Other Greek and Roman writers during the following centuries also mentioned it, but it was not until Apollonius of Rhodes (middle of the 3rd century BC) that a clear indication of its use as a cryptographic device appeared. A description of how it operated is not known from before Plutarch (50–120 AD): The dispatch-scroll is of the following character. When the ephors send out an admiral or a general, they make two round pieces of wood exactly alike in length and thickness, so that each corresponds to the other in its dimensions, and keep one themselves, while they give the other to their envoy. These pieces of wood they call scytalae.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.