Caesar Cipher

L e c t u r e : Tw o
D a t e : 1 2 / 11 / 2 0 2 3
By Asaad Khaleel Ibrahim
Advantages & Disadvantages

Example

Mathematical Description

Introduction
Outcomes
Caesar Cipher
 Outcomes
Advantages & Disadvantages

Mathematical Description
At the end of the lecture, students are expected to
Understand the Caesar cipher method.

Introduction
Example

Be able to solve their assignments.

Break any given ciphertext.
Know the advantages and disadvantages
of the Caesar cipher method.
 Introduction
Advantages & Disadvantages

Mathematical Description
The Caesar cipher is one of the earliest known and
simplest cryptography methods. It is a type of
substitution cipher where each letter in the plaintext is
Example

Outcomes
'shifted’ circularly by a certain number of places down
the alphabet. The figure below illustrates the
cryptosystem of the Caesar cipher method.
 Mathematical Description
Advantages & Disadvantages

First we translate all of our characters to numbers, as shown

in the below table. We can now represent the Caesar cipher
encryption function, e(x), where x is the character we are
encrypting, as:

Introduction
Example

Outcomes
Where k is the key (the shift) applied to each letter. After
applying this function the result is a number which must then
be translated back into a letter. The decryption function is :
 Encryption Example
Advantages & Disadvantages

Mathematical Description
Here is a quick example of the encryption steps involved with the
Caesar cipher. The text we will encrypt is ‘help', with a shift (key)
of 4.

Introduction
Outcomes
Plaintext: help
Ciphertext: ?
 Decryption Example
Advantages & Disadvantages

Mathematical Description
Here is a quick example of the decryption steps involved
with the Caesar cipher. The text we will decrypt is ‘lipt', with
a shift (key) of 4.

Introduction
Outcomes
Ciphertext: lipt
Plaintext: ?
Advantages & Disadvantages

Mathematical Description
Advantages:
• Ease of Use

Introduction
The Caesar Cipher is a simple and easy-to-understand

Example

Outcomes
encryption method that can be implemented without the
need for complex algorithms or technology
Disadvantages:
• Easy to break
The Caesar Cipher has a very limited key space, as there
are only 25 possible shift values. This makes it easy for
an attacker to try all possible keys and decipher the
message.
References
1. Abraham, O., & Shefiu, G. O. (2012). An improved Caesar cipher (ICC) algorithm.
International Journal Of Engineering Science & Advanced Technology (IJESAT), 2, 1198-1202.
2. Gowda, S. N. (2016, September). Innovative enhancement of the Caesar cipher algorithm for
cryptography. In 2016 2nd International Conference on Advances in Computing,
Communication, & Automation (ICACCA)(Fall) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.
3. Lubis, F. I., Simbolon, H. F. S., Batubara, T. P., & Sembiring, R. W. (2017). Combination of
Caesar Cipher Modification with Transposition Cipher. Advances in Science, Technology and
Engineering Systems Journal, 2(5), 22-25.
4. Gunawan, I., Tambunan, H. S., Irawan, E., Qurniawan, H., & Hartama, D. (2019, August).
Combination of Caesar Cipher Algorithm and Rivest Shamir Adleman Algorithm for Securing
Document Files and Text Messages. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1255, No. 1,
p. 012077). IOP Publishing

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Homework
Use the Caesar cipher to find the plaintext from the ciphertext:
Ciphertext : ugehmlwj kwumjalq
Plaintext:?
Key: 36

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Next Lecture
Atbash Cipher

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