Understanding Permutation Cipher and How To Implement With Python
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NashUnderstanding Permutation Cipher and How To Implement With Python
Uploaded by
NashUnderstanding Permutation Cipher
and How to Implement with Python
Aug 15, 2023 • 4 min read
Tags: Cryptography, Python
A permutation cipher is a type of encryption that rearranges the letters of a plaintext
message according to a predetermined pattern. This pattern is called the “key”. Unlike
substitution ciphers, which replace characters with other characters, permutation
ciphers maintain the original characters but change their order.
How permutation cipher works?
To encrypt a message using permutation cipher, you first need the key. The key can be
a pattern of letters or numbers. The message then divided into several blocks. For
each block, we rearrange the position for each character based on the key.
Here is an example:
1. We want to encrypt the message THE HACKING BLOG ROCKS and the key is
31254.
2. The length of the key is 5, so divide the message into blocks of 5 characters:
THE H, ACKIN, G BLO, G ROC, KS . Note that the last block has only 2
character, so we pad it with 3 spaces to make the block contains 5 characters.
3. For each block, we need to rearrange the position of the characters. The key is
31254, so we put the 3rd char into the 1st position, the 1st char to the 2nd position,
the 2nd char to the 3rd position, the 5th char to the 4th position, and the 4th char
to the 5th position.
4. The encrypted message is ETHH KACNIBG OLRG CO KS .
To decrypt the message, we use the same algorithm but reversing the character
placement:
1. We want to decrypt the message ETHH KACNIBG OLRG CO KS and the key
is 31254.
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2. We divide the message into blocks of 5 characters: ETHH , KACNI, BG OL, RG
CO, KS .
3. For each block, rearrange the position of the characters. The key is 31254, so
we put the 1st char into the 3rd position, the 2nd char to the 1st position, the 3rd
char into the 2nd position, the 4th char into the 5th position, and the 5th char into
the 4th position.
4. he decrypted message is THE HACKING BLOG ROCKS .
How do I implement it in Python?
The algorithm for encryption and decryption is similar, with the difference only in the
character placement.
Below is a function to encrypt and decrypt text with permutation cipher.
def permutation_cipher(msg: str, key: int, decrypt: bool=False) -> str:
key = str(key)
key_len = len(key)
result = ''
# Pad the message with spaces if needed
msg += ' ' * ((key_len - (len(msg) % key_len)) % key_len)
# Calculate the number of blocks
num_blocks = int(len(msg) / key_len)
# Process each block
for num_block in range(num_blocks):
# Get the current block
start_idx = num_block * key_len
block = [x for x in msg[start_idx:(start_idx + key_len)]]
# Rearrange the characters from this block into a new block
new_block = [' '] * key_len
for idx1, idx2 in enumerate(key):
idx2 = int(idx2) - 1
if decrypt:
new_block[idx2] = block[idx1]
else:
new_block[idx1] = block[idx2]
# Join the new block into the result message
result += ''.join(new_block)
return result
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# Usage example
key = 31254
message = 'THE HACKING BLOG ROCKS'
encrypted = permutation_cipher(message, key)
print(encrypted) # Should print "ETHH KACNIBG OLRG CO KS "
decrypted = permutation_cipher(encrypted, key, decrypt=True)
print(decrypted) # Should print "THE HACKING BLOG ROCKS "
The function permutation_cipher takes 3 arguments: msg is the message to be
encrypted or decrypted, key is the encryption key, and decrypt to specify whether
the operation is encryption or decryption.
First, the input message is padded with spaces to make the blocks contain equal
number of characters. Then for each block, a new block is created and filled with the
input characters based on the given key. The new blocks then joined together and
returned as output.
Key Takeaways
In this blog post, we have learned how the permutation cipher works and how to
implement it in Python. Permutation ciphers are a simple and effective way to encrypt
short messages.
Keep in mind that they should not be used for encrypting sensitive information. If you
are looking for a more secure way to encrypt your messages, you should look into the
more modern and secure algorithms such as RSA and AES.
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