DSF Tutorial – Vinesha Selvarajah

Encryption
Ms. Vinesha Selvarajah

Objectives

The objectives of this tutorial are to:

 To test your understanding cryptology,

 To learn the basics of encryption and decryption
 To gain practical experience in hands on encrypting and decryption of cipher codes .

This tutorial class involves the following parts:

 Understanding key terms involved in cryptology (~45 mins)

 Decrypt the cipher codes using different Ciphers (~45 mins)
 Encrypt your own message for your team member to decrypt (~30 mins)

Resources

The resource folder is found under the XX folder in your Moodle, under XXX. You can do this by
accessing Moodle under this subject’s intake code, save the folder to your computer.

Preparation

To effectively prepare for this tutorial class, you should have done the following before coming to your
tutorial class:

 Revised the slides, materials and examples for this week;

 Read through this tutorial instructions entirely, noting anything unclear.

Reminder: If you don’t complete these tutorial exercises during your allocated tutorial class, you should
finish them in your own time, seeking additional assistance as needed.

PART 1: Understanding Key Terminology in Cryptology

This part of the tutorial is designed to test your understanding on the key terms used in cryptology. You
will learn what is cryptology and the types of different methods used in cryptology by attempting the
following key questions:
1. What is encryption, decryption?
2. What is the difference between plain text and cipher?
3. State and briefly explain the difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption?
4. Provide 3 examples of cipher that you know of, you may search for this online.
 DSF Tutorial – Vinesha Selvarajah

PART 2: Crack The Code!

The goal of this exercise is to familiarize you with some crypto activities commonly conducted particularly
to test your skills in decoding simple cipher codes. Take note that encryption and decryption involves
highly sophisticated algorithms which takes time to decipher. This is a team activity of groups of 2-4 that
involves some level of cracking to solve the following puzzles.

The PigPen Cipher

Also known as a substitution cipher, was introduced by the Freenmasons in the 18 th century where
each letter is substituted with an image. Have a close look at the PigPen Cipher table below and try to
crack the code below.

The PigPen Cipher

Scenario
A murder happened in the School of Computing and your roommate Jonny was accused as a main
suspect. Having the fear of being arrested, Jonny have gone into hiding and left a cipher note at your
doorstep. You have decided to decrypt his message to find about his whereabouts. The following is the
cipher message left behind:
 DSF Tutorial – Vinesha Selvarajah

PART 3: Encrypt a Private Message!

This exercise teaches you how to encrypt your own message using PigPen Cipher. You may now encrypt
a short message, not more than 10 words long and send this message to a friend, or maybe even your
tutor! Have Fun!