So far, we have studied three transposition ciphers: Scytale Cipher, Block Rotate Cipher and Columnar Transposition. In this document, we will outline three other ciphers: Rail-fence Cipher, Permutation Cipher and Myszkowski Cipher.
write the plaintext as a two-row zigzag, ,then read horizontally.
Example: POETRY IS LOST IN TRANSLATION
Ciphertext: PERILSITASAINOTYSOTNRNLTO
Find the middle character, then insert the ciphertext horizontally and read in a zig-zag fashion.
Example: MKHSELWYAEATSOL
The character Y is the middle character. Then we split at that character
plaintext: MAKE HASTE SLOWLY
Instead of using a fixed number of rows = 2, let the key be the number of rows.
Example: key = 4
Ciphertext: PIISN OYSTNNLO ERLSTAAI TORT