This might take some patience if a human does it, but nowadays computers can unravel the code in a fraction of a second, so Caesar ciphers are not considered a secure method to encrypt electronic communications.
The Caesar cipher, named after Roman Emperor Julius Caesar is one of the earliest and most widely known ciphers. Now cryptography is essential in computer science for keeping everything from e-mails to bank account information secure. Many of the earliest codes, or “ciphers,” such as the one you will create in this project were easy to create by hand. Historically, codes have been used by politicians, spies and countries at war to prevent their enemies from knowing what they’re up to.
Try this activity to learn how to create your own “Caesar cipher,” a popular type of code that is easy to learn.Ĭryptography is the study of writing or solving secret codes that are used for secure communication. If you need to send a secret message to a friend, how could you prevent other people from reading it? One way is to encrypt the message-that is, use a secret code that only you and your friend know.