Ebook: Codebreaking: A Practical Guide (Expanded Edition)

Solve history’s most hidden secrets alongside expert codebreakers Elonka Dunin and Klaus Schmeh, as they guide you through the world of encrypted texts. With a focus on cracking real-world document encryptions - including some crime-based coded mysteries that remain unsolved - you’ll be introduced to the free computer software that professional cryptographers use, helping you build your skills with state-of-the art tools. You’ll also be inspired by thrilling success stories, like how the first three parts of Kryptos were broken.

Each chapter introduces you to a specific cryptanalysis technique, and presents factual examples of text encrypted using that scheme—from modern postcards to 19-century newspaper ads, war-time telegrams, notes smuggled into prisons, and even entire books written in code. Along the way, you’ll work on NSA-developed challenges, detect and break a Caesar cipher, crack an encrypted journal from the movie The Prestige, and much more.

While the art and craft of encryption is referred to as cryptography, the breaking of cryptograms is called cryptanalysis. Codebreaking is another word for cryptanalysis. Also, the term cryptology often means cryptography and cryptanalysis but can also mean the study of everything encryption related, including people, machines, systems, and history. The term crypto can be used as a catchall term to apply to many items on this list. Generally, cryptology refers to messages that are encrypted, but sometimes, steganography, the hiding of information, is included in cryptology as well.

You’ll learn:
- How to crack simple substitution, polyalphabetic, and transposition ciphers
- How to use free online cryptanalysis software, like CrypTool 2, to aid your analysis
- How to identify clues and patterns to figure out what encryption scheme is being used
- How to encrypt your own emails and secret messages

Codebreaking is the most up-to-date resource on cryptanalysis published since World War II - essential for modern forensic codebreakers, and designed to help amateurs unlock some of history’s greatest mysteries.