ALGORITHMS AND KEYS

An algorithm is a rule defining the content as well as the arrangement of the operations needed for the solution of a mathematical problem repeating itself. (Victor Peckelis, Cybernetics, From A to Z, Gutenberg Editions, 1986)

On the looks of it, the phrase EUXWXV LV D IULHQG is a nonsensical one. Yet, it is encoded in the system used by Julius Cesar in the messages he dispatched to his generals. Every letter is the fourth in sequence from the initial one. Thus, instead of B he used E, in the place of R he used U and so on and so forth. This transference procedure of the initial figure to its third sequential constitutes the algorithm of the message. This algorithm can be mathematically defined under the following equation: y=x-3. Number 3 is the key to the algorithm needed to decode the message above: “BRUTUS IS A FRIEND”…

Of course the algorithms used today are infinitely more complex and their keys are not just digits but equations with random numbers, making impossible any attempts to decode all messages sent, by other people than their producers…