Nihilist Cipher: An In-Depth Look at the Cryptographic Technique

Understanding the Key Features, Use Cases, and Encryption/Decryption Processes of Nihilist Cipher | Karthikeyan Nagaraj

Karthikeyan Nagaraj
4 min readApr 13, 2023

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Introduction:

  • The Nihilist Cipher is a cryptographic technique that is based on the polyalphabetic substitution cipher, which was developed in the late 19th century.
  • In this article, we will explore the key features, use cases, encryption process, and decryption process of the Nihilist Cipher in detail.

Key Features of Nihilist Cipher:

  • The Nihilist Cipher is a polyalphabetic substitution cipher, meaning it uses multiple alphabets for substitution.
  • It is a transposition cipher, meaning the order of letters in the plaintext is changed to produce ciphertext.
  • The Nihilist Cipher uses a key matrix to substitute letters in the plaintext.
  • It is a symmetric key cipher, meaning the same key is used for encryption and decryption.
  • The key size of the Nihilist Cipher can vary, although a larger key size provides better security.

Use Cases of Nihilist Cipher:

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Karthikeyan Nagaraj

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