International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 888)

Volume 48– No.7, June 2012

Extension of Playfair Cipher using 16X16 Matrix

S.S.Dhenakaran, PhD. M. Ilayaraja

Assistant Professor Research Scholar
Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science and Engineering,
Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India. Alagappa University, Karaikudi, India.

ABSTRACT
The role of Cryptography in today‟s digital world is Cryptography is segmented into Symmetric key and
significant. It secures information mathematically by Asymmetric key cryptography. It is further defined that same
mangling message with key. The privacy of intended sender key used for encryption and decryption is called Symmetric
and receiver information is protected from eavesdropper. The key cryptography. Otherwise it is called Asymmetric key
objective of the paper is playfair cipher. The existing cryptography. This paper use substitution / replacement
methods of playfair cipher are studied. The restrictions of playfair cipher of symmetric key cryptography [1].
earlier works a playfair cipher using 5X5 matrix, 7X4 matrix
and 6X6 matrix are overcome in the proposed work. The
2. PLAYFAIR CIPHER
proposed method plays a 16X16 matrix giving strength to Playfair cipher that is a substitution cipher was first developed
playfair cipher. The proposed work is an enhancement to the by Charles Wheatstone in 1854. Later it was promoted by
existing algorithms that uses 16X16 matrix to pick cipher Lord Playfair. Now it is called playfair cipher [2].
characters. It makes use of alphabets both lower and 2.1 Existing Playfair Algorithm using 5x5
uppercase characters, number and special characters for Matrix
constructing the contents of the matrix.
The existing playfair cipher working on 5x5 matrix is
General Terms constructed with a keyword “CRYPTO”. The Table 1 below
shows the construction of 5x5 matrix using the keyword
Encryption, Decryption, Plaintext, Ciphertext.
“CRYPTO” plus the uppercase alphabets satisfying the rules
Keywords of preparing the table. The matrix is first filled by the
Playfair Cipher, Substitution, Cryptography, Network keyword from left to right and the remaining cells are filled
Security, Symmetric Key. by the uppercase alphabets ignoring the letters of keyword.
Table 1. Playfair 5x5 Matrix
1. INTRODUCTION
Etymologically speaking, the word cryptography comes from C R Y P T
the Greek origin. It is a combination of two words Crypto and
Graphy. Crypto means Secret and Graphy means Writing [1].
O A B D E
Cryptography deals with creating documents that can be
shared secretly over public communication channels. The
present Scenario, everyone needs to encrypt the message at F G H I/J K
the sender side and decrypt it at the receiver side to preserve
security and privacy. So cryptography is the study of creating
L M N Q S
and using encryption and decryption techniques. In
cryptography the term plaintext is used for the original
message that is to be transformed. The message which has U V W X Z
been transformed is called Ciphertext. An encryption
algorithm works with a key to transform the plaintext into
ciphertext. Decryption algorithm works in the reverse order
and converts the ciphertext into plaintext [5]. In this algorithm, the letters I & J are counted as one
The encryption /decryption algorithm is to encrypt/decrypt the character. It is seen that the rules of encryption applies an
message with the help of a key. The process of converting pair of plaintext characters. So, it needs always even number
plaintext into ciphertext is called enciphering or encryption. of characters in plaintext message. In case, the message
The process of retaining the plaintext from the ciphertext is counts odd number of characters a spare letter X is added at
called deciphering or decryption. The following figure shows the end of the plaintext message.
the encryption and decryption process. Further repeating plaintext letters in the same pair are
separated with a filler letter, such as X, so that the word
COMMUNICATE would be treated as CO MX MU NI CA
TE.
2.1.1 Rules
a) Plaintext letters that fall in the same row of the
matrix are replaced / substituted by the letter to the
right, with the first element of the row circularly
following the last. For example pt is encrypted as
Fig 1. Encryption / Decryption Process TC.

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 888)
Volume 48– No.7, June 2012

b) Plain text letters that fall in the same column are 2.2.1 Limitations of 7x4 Matrix
replaced by the letter beneath, with the top element  26 characters only can take as a keyword without any
of the row circularly following in the last. For repetition.
example, cu is encrypted as OC.  The space between two words in the plaintext is not
c) Otherwise, each plaintext letter is replaced by the considered as one character.
letter that lies in its own row and the column  It cannot use numbers and special characters except
occupied by the other plaintext letter. Thus, oh „*‟ and „#‟.
becomes BF, and fd becomes IO (or JO, as the  It is not case sensitive.
enciphered wishes) [2].
 It ignores the symbols „*‟ and „#‟ at the time of
2.1.2 Limitations of 5x5 Matrix decipherment.
 It considers the letters I and J as one character.
2.3 Existing Playfair Algorith using 6x6
 26 letters alone can take as keyword without Matrix
duplicates.
This playfair algorithm is based on the use of a 6x6 matrix
 Space between two words in the plaintext is not using letters and numbers. Here also the keyword
considered as one character. “CRYPTO” is used. The matrix is constructed by filling the
 It cannot use special characters and numbers. letters of the keyword from left to right and from top to
bottom, remaining cells of the matrix are filled by uppercase
 It only uppercase alphabets.
alphabets and numbers ignoring the letters of the keyword as
 A spare letter X is added when the plaintext word in Table 3 [4].
consists of odd number of character. In the
decryption process this X is ignored. X is a valid This algorithm cannot consider the letters I and J as one
character and creates confusion because it could be a character. Place I and J in two different cells in order to avoid
part of plaintext, so we cannot simply remove X in the ambiguity at the time of decipherment. The rules of
decryption process. playfair 5x5 matrix are used to encrypt the plaintext.
 X is used a filler letter while repeating letter falls in Table 3. Playfair 6x6 Matrix
the same pair are separated.
C R Y P T O
2.2 Existing Playfair Algorithm using 7x4
Matrix A B D E F G
A keyword is used to construct 7x4 matrix using letters and H I J K L M
symbols „*‟ and „#‟ which is the base for this Playfair
Algorithm. The 7x4 matrix is constructed by filling keyword N Q S U V W
with no repeating letters. Here the keyword “CRYPTO” is X Z 0 1 2 3
used. The remaining spaces are filled with the rest of
alphabets. As shown in the table 2, the last cell is filled by 4 5 6 7 8 9
the symbol “#” and the remaining cell that is before the last
cell is filled by the symbol “*” [3]. 2.3.1 The Existing Playfair Algorithm using 6x6
Matrix overcome the problem of 5x5 Matrix
Table 2. Playfair 7x4 Matrix  Letters I and J are counted as two letters.
C R Y P  The alphabets and numbers are used in the plaintext
and the keyword.
T O A B
D E F G 2.3.2 Limitations of 6x6 Matrix
 This 6x6 matrix can only take 36 characters as a
H I J K keyword without duplicates.
L M N Q  Space between two words in plaintext is not
considered as one character.
S U V W
 The matrix cannot accept special character.
X Z * #
 It is not case sensitive.
The same rules of playfair 5x5 matrix are used here to encrypt  When plaintext word consists of odd number of
the plaintext with the following modification. characters, a spare letter X is added with the word to
complete the pair. In the decryption process this X is
 When same letters fall in a pair it adds “*” so that the simply ignored. This creates confusion because X is a
message BALLS become BAL*LS. valid character and it can be a part of plaintext, so we
cannot simply remove it in decryption process.
 If a word consists of odd number of letters, it will add
symbol “#” to complete the pair. So BIT becomes BI  When repeating plaintext letters that fall in the same
T#. The symbol # is simply ignored when the pair are separated by a filler letter, such as X. This
ciphertext is decrypted.

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 888)
Volume 48– No.7, June 2012

letter X affects the plaintext at the time of 5. Read a plaintext.

decipherment. 6. Divide the plaintext into pair of characters.
7. Add the character “Null” when odd number of
3. THE PROPOSED PLAYFAIR CIPHER character in the message.
USING 16X16 MATRIX 8. The conversion process:
This algorithm can accept the Plaintext containing Alphabets a) If the pair of plaintext falls in the same row of
(capital letters and small letters), Numbers and Special the matrix are replaced by the character to the
characters. So the user can easily encrypt combination of right, with the first element of the row
circularly following left.
alphabets, numbers and characters efficiently.
b) If the pair of plaintext fall in the same column
To encrypt the plaintext, the rules of 5x5 are followed with of the matrix are replaced by the character
the following modification: beneath, with the top element of the row
circularly following in the last.
 While repeating plaintext characters that are in the c) If the pair of plaintext are same, the first
same pair, the first character is replaced by the character replaced by the character to the right.
character to the right, with the first element of the row The second character replaced by the character
circularly following the last. The second character is to the left.
replaced by the character to the left, with the last d) If the pair of plaintext appears on the different
element of the row circularly following the first. row and column, each plaintext character is
 If a word consists of odd number of characters, it will replaced by the character that lies in its own
add the character “Null” to complete the pairs, row and column occupied by the other
because “Null” character cannot affect the Plaintext at plaintext character.
the time of decipherment.
This Playfair algorithm is based on the use of 16x16 matrix of
Algorithm characters constructed using a keyword. The matrix is
constructed by filling the characters of keyword (minus
1. Read a keyword. duplicates) from left to right and from top to bottom. Then it
2. Eliminate the repeated characters in keyword. is filling the remaining characters in ascending order from
3. Construct a matrix by filling the character of ASCII value 0 to 255, as shown in Table 4 and Table 5.
keyword from left to right and top to bottom.
4. Fill the reminder of matrix with the remaining
characters from ASCII values 0 to 255.

The following example uses Playfair 16x16 Matrix

Key - Playfair.(Sample)

Plaintext as a single word - Cryptography

Ciphertext - :feuq])yeZ

Plaintext as a phrase - American Online Service

Ciphertext - ?e).p\lo↗Uü⇞lt⇐m).up\)⇗

Plaintext as a sentence - Hardwork has a future pay off, Laziness pays off now.
Ciphertext - Gye]xqPu3~fo¶⇏vuå⇕⇐ey§sa(&↓Umoltf|~⇏eyfq¶~iy‼~qx(⇗

Plaintext as a Email Id - [email protected]

Ciphertext - p(rayfy.⇗Y(Y3123Bcpyrap^za

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 888)
Volume 48– No.7, June 2012

Table 4. PlayFair 16X16 Matrix

P l a y f i r . ( S m p e ) NUL ⇗

⇘ ⇞ ⇟ ⇝ ⇜ • ⇕ ⇔ ⇖ ⇛ ⇚ ⇠ ⇡ ⇙ ⇑ ⇓

↕ ‼ ¶ § ⇏ ↖ ↑ ↓ → ← ↗ ↔ ⇐ ⇒ Space !

“ # $ % & „ * + , - / 0 1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D

E F G H I J K L M N O Q R T U V

W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` b c d g h j

k n o q s t u v w x z { | } ~ DEL

Ç ü é â ä À å ç ê ë è ï î ì Ä Å

É æ Æ ô ö Ò û ù ÿ Ö Ü ¢ £ ¥ ₧ ƒ

á í ó ú ñ Ñ ª º ¿ ↛ ¬ ½ ¼ ¡ « »

⇋ ⇌ ⇍ ↟ ↥ ↺ ↻ ↯ ↮ ↼ ↪ ↰ ↶ ↵ ↴ ↡

↢ ↧ ↦ ↤ ↞ ↨ ↷ ↸ ↳ ↭ ⇂ ↿ ↹ ↩ ⇅ ⇀

⇁ ↽ ↾ ↲ ↱ ↫ ↬ ⇄ ⇃ ↣ ↠ ⇈ ⇇ ⇉ ⇊ ⇆

α ß Γ π Σ Σ µ Τ Φ Θ Ω δ ∞ φ ε ↘

↙ ± ≥ ≤ ↜ ↝ ÷ ≈ ° ∙ · √ ⁿ ² ⇎

The following example uses sentence for keyword using Playfair 16x16 Matrix

Key: Alagappa University was established by the Govt. of Tamil Nadu during the year 1985 in Karaikudi, Sivagangai District.

Plaintext as a single word - Cryptography

Ciphertext - RAw p8psg 5l

Plaintext as a phrase - American Online Service

Ciphertext - ibrsp⇞giiJiavirU⇝asep⇞ ⇝

Plaintext as a sentence - Hardwork has a future pay off, Laziness pays off now.
Ciphertext - FgalpKA⇜l.gtUgU.8elerU gwU.Th⇗UJe\virttU gwtp.T.UiKp⇑

Plaintext as a Email Id - [email protected]

Ciphertext - Nfvagwgsn\ \32G=2ydivao.N

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 International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 888)
Volume 48– No.7, June 2012

Table 5. PlayFair 16X16 Matrix

A l a g p space U n i v e r s t y w

b h d G o . f T m N u 1 9 8 5 K

k , S D c NUL ⇗ ⇘ ⇞ ⇟ ⇝ ⇜ • ⇕ ⇔ ⇖

⇛ ⇚ ⇠ ⇡ ⇙ ⇑ ⇓ ↕ ‼ ¶ § ⇏ ↖ ↑ ↓ →

← ↗ ↔ ⇐ ⇒ ! “ # $ % & „ ( ) * +

- / 0 2 3 4 6 7 : ; < = > ? @ B

C E F H I J L M O P Q R V W X Y

Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` j q x z { | } ~ ↚

Ç ü é â ä À å ç ê ë è ï î ì Ä Å

É æ Æ ô ö Ò û ù ÿ Ö Ü ¢ £ ¥ ₧ ƒ

á í ó ú ñ Ñ ª º ¿ ↛ ¬ ½ ¼ ¡ « »

⇋ ⇌ ⇍ ↟ ↥ ↺ ↻ ↯ ↮ ↼ ↪ ↰ ↶ ↵ ↴ ↡

↢ ↧ ↦ ↤ ↞ ↨ ↷ ↸ ↳ ↭ ⇂ ↿ ↹ ↩ ⇅ ⇀

⇁ ↽ ↾ ↲ ↱ ↫ ↬ ⇄ ⇃ ↣ ↠ ⇈ ⇇ ⇉ ⇊ ⇆

α ß Γ π Σ ζ µ Τ Φ Θ Ω δ ∞ φ ε ↘

↙ ± ≥ ≤ ↜ ↝ ÷ ≈ ° ∙ · √ ⁿ ² ⇎

3.1 List of Advantages in my Proposal matrices. The result of cipher is looking hard than the
previous ciphers. It is concluded that the selection of
 It allows more than 36 characters as keyword. cumbersome keyword can generate full of machine symbols
in the cipher. For future enhancement to this application two
 It considers the space between two words in plaintext different keys can be applied for encryption and decryption.
as one character. Public key used for encrypt the file and private key used for
decrypt it. Also, other more advanced encryption operations
 The user can easily encrypt and decrypt the
combination of alphabets, numbers and special can be included to enhance the security of information.
characters efficiently.
 Letters, digits and special characters are used to
5. REFERENCES
construct 16x16 matrix. [1] Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Networks Computer, 5th edition,
Pearson Education, ISBN-10: 0132553171.
 It is case sensitive.
[2] William Stallings, “Cryptography and Network Security:
 The letters I and J are considered as two different Principles and Practice”, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall,
letters. 2006.
 To compare with the previous algorithms, here the [3] Aftab Alam, Sehat Ullah, Ishtiaq Wahid, & Shah Khalid,
keyword length is very large, so it is very difficult to “Universal Playfair Cipher Using MXN Matrix”.
find the Plaintext from Ciphertext without knowing a International Jourrnal of Advanced Computer Science,
keyword. Vol.1, No.3, Pp.113-117, Sep.2011.
 This algorithm adds the Null character to complete [4] Ravindra Babu K, S.Uday Kumar, A. Vinay Babu,
the pair, because the “Null” character cannot affect I.V.N.S. Aditya, P.Komuraiah, “An Extension to
the plaintext at the end of the word or sentence. Traditional Playfair Cryptographic Method”.
 This algorithm cannot separate a repeating Plaintext International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 –
letters with a filter letter. 8887), Volume 17- No.5, March 2011.
[5] Muhammad Salam, Nasir Rashid, Shah Khalid,
4. CONCLUSION Muhammad Raees Khan, “A NXM Version of 5X5
In this paper, it is attempted to use the basic playfair cipher Playfair Cipher for any Natural Language (Urdu as
and proposed an enhanced playfair cipher dropping the Special Case)”. World Academy of Science,
restricting of previous playfairs using 5x5, 6x6 and 7x4 Engineering and Technology 73 2011.

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