Module cipher_crypt::scytale

One of the oldest cryptography tools was a scytale, which was used to perform transposition encryption. It consisted of a cylinder with a strip of parchment (containing a message) wound around it.

The ancient Greeks used this cipher to communicate during military campaigns. Sender and recipient each had a cylinder of exactly the same radius. The sender wound a narrow ribbon of parchment around their cylinder. Then they wrote on it lengthwise. After the ribbon is unwound, the writing could be read only by a person who had a cylinder of exactly the same circumference.

Scytale encryption is only keyed by the number of letters that fit on each roll around the scytale. Therefore, it can be trivially cracked.

Structs

Scytale

A Scytale cipher.