All lessons8 min · Trainee Codebreaker
Transposition
Same letters, new order.
Introduction
Write the message into a grid, then read it out down the columns in an order set by a keyword. Nothing has been substituted — only moved.
Because the letters are untouched, a frequency count looks like ordinary English. The attack is anagramming the columns instead.
Key ideaTransposition rearranges letters instead of replacing them, so frequency analysis alone stalls.