Category: Spy Codes

Can you crack it? Slightly less sexy than the gadgets but of no less importance to the seasoned spy: being able to both communicate in and crack codes. Cryptanalysts specialize in breaking codes and often play a crucial role in criminal investigations. Get a sneaky peak into the science of codes (i.e. cryptology) here.

Cracking Codes: Part IV

Encrypted LetterHere are a couple more ciphers for you to mull over and add to your encryption repertoire: the ancient Masonic cipher and a variation, called the tic-tac-toe cipher, which is used to encrypt numbers instead of letters...

Al-Marri Plea Reveals Al Qaeda Code...

Andrew Savage, al-Marri's lawyerAli al-Marri, the alleged Al Qaeda sleeper spy who has finally been put on trial, recently filed a guilty-plea agreement in federal court that reveals interesting details about Al Qaeda's...

Cracking Codes: Part III

It’s been a little while since our last cracking codes post, but here’s a classic for you to sink your teeth into this Sunday – the Telephone Keypad Cipher.

A standard touch-tone telephone keypad can be used to create a number cipher that is more difficult to break than a keyword system.

Using the telephone keypad …

Cracking Codes: Part II

Not too long ago, we posted a little how-to on Substitution Ciphers, and now we’re moving on to Keyword Number Ciphers. If you need a little refresher before Part II, be sure to check out Cracking Codes: Part I.

Keyword Number Ciphers:

Most criminal use ciphers to hide numbers, especially telephone numbers, addresses, weights, and …

Cracking Codes: Part I

Since the dawn of time (or at least since humans have been communicating with each other), people have wanted to be able to transmit messages secretively. Over centuries of war, star-crossed loves, power-hungry reigns, conniving traitors and common crime, a number of ‘secret writing’ methods (i.e. cryptography) have been developed.

There are two major categories of …