introduction and background
A monoalphabetic cipher uses fixed substitution over the entire message.
You can build a monoalphabetic cipher using a Python dictionary, like so:
monoalpha_cipher = {
'a': 'm',
'b': 'n',
'c': 'b',
'd': 'v',
'e': 'c',
'f': 'x',
'g': 'z',
'h': 'a',
'i': 's',
'j': 'd',
'k': 'f',
'l': 'g',
'm': 'h',
'n': 'j',
'o': 'k',
'p': 'l',
'q': 'p',
'r': 'o',
's': 'i',
't': 'u',
'u': 'y',
'v': 't',
'w': 'r',
'x': 'e',
'y': 'w',
'z': 'q',
' ': ' ',
}
We can create an inverse of this cipher dictionary by switching the key and value places:
inverse_monoalpha_cipher = {}
for key, value in monoalpha_cipher.iteritems():
inverse_monoalpha_cipher[value] = key
Now that we have both the cipher and the inverse_cipher, we may encrypt a message.
Encryption example:
message = "This is an easy problem"
encrypted_message = []
for letter in message:
encrypted_message.append(monoalpha_cipher.get(letter, letter))
print(''.join(encrypted_message))
- Result:
- Tasi si mj cmiw lokngch
Using the inverse_cipher, We may decrypt a message.
Decryption example:
encrypted_message = "rmij'u uamu xyj?"
decrypted_message = []
for letter in encrypted_message:
decrypted_message.append( inverse_monoalpha_cipher.get(letter, letter))
print(''.join( decrypted_message ))
- Result:
- wasn't that fun?
monoalphabetic_cipher.py
Here is a toy library I wrote to make the process repeatable -
monoalphabetic_cipher.py:
from string import letters, digits
from random import shuffle
def random_monoalpha_cipher(pool=None):
"""Generate a Monoalphabetic Cipher"""
if pool is None:
pool = letters + digits
original_pool = list(pool)
shuffled_pool = list(pool)
shuffle(shuffled_pool)
return dict(zip(original_pool, shuffled_pool))
def inverse_monoalpha_cipher(monoalpha_cipher):
"""Given a Monoalphabetic Cipher (dictionary) return the inverse."""
inverse_monoalpha = {}
for key, value in monoalpha_cipher.iteritems():
inverse_monoalpha[value] = key
return inverse_monoalpha
def encrypt_with_monoalpha(message, monoalpha_cipher):
encrypted_message = []
for letter in message:
encrypted_message.append(monoalpha_cipher.get(letter, letter))
return ''.join(encrypted_message)
def decrypt_with_monoalpha(encrypted_message, monoalpha_cipher):
return encrypt_with_monoalpha(
encrypted_message,
inverse_monoalpha_cipher(monoalpha_cipher)
)
monoalphabetic_cipher.py example usage
Here I show how to use the library:
>>> # load the module / library as 'mc'.
>>> import monoalphabetic_cipher as mc
>>> # generate a random cipher (only if needed).
>>> cipher = mc.random_monoalpha_cipher()
>>> # output the cipher (store for safe keeping).
>>> print(cipher)
>>> # encrypt a message with the cipher.
>>> mc.encrypt_with_monoalpha('Hello all you hackers out there!', cipher)
'sXGGt SGG Nt0 HSrLXFC t0U UHXFX!'
>>> # decrypt a message with the cipher.
>>> mc.decrypt_with_monoalpha('sXGGt SGG Nt0 HSrLXFC t0U UHXFX!', cipher)
'Hello all you hackers out there!'