Beaufort

The Beaufort cipher is a type of substitution cipher where each letter in the plaintext is replaced by another letter a certain number of letters before it in the alphabet. These offsets are determined by the keyword.

Preserve Capitals

Preserve Symbols

Preserve Whitespace

Encode

Keyword

Input Message

Output Message

Explanation

The Beaufort cipher is a type of substitution cipher similar to the Vigenere cipher but with a different method of encryption.

In the Beaufort cipher, encryption and decryption are performed by using a keyword to determine the amount of backward displacement within the alphabet for each letter of the text, unlike the Vigenere cipher, where the key is added.

The Beaufort cipher, like the Vigenere cipher, is vulnerable to frequency analysis and other cryptanalysis techniques, especially if the keyword is short or if there are patterns in the plaintext.

However, it provides some variation in encryption compared to the Vigenere cipher, which may offer slightly different cryptographic properties.

Facts

The Beaufort cipher was named in honor of Sir Francis Beaufort, and Irish hydrographer and admiral, for his contribution to cryptography and his work in creating the Beaufort wind force scale, despite him not being involved it its creation.