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Beaufort Cipher

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Beaufort Cipher, is a polyalphabetic substitution cipher created by Sir Francis Beaufort that is similar to the Vigenère Cipher, except that it enciphers characters in a slightly different manner.


The 'key' for a Beaufort Cipher is a key word. e.g. 'FORTIFICATION'. It uses the following tableau (the 'tabula recta') to encipher the plaintext:

 
    A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
    ---------------------------------------------------
A   A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
B   B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
C   C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B
D   D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C
E   E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D
F   F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E
G   G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F
H   H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G
I   I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H
J   J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I
K   K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J
L   L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K
M   M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L
N   N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M
O   O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N
P   P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
Q   Q R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P
R   R S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q
S   S T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R
T   T U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S
U   U V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T
V   V W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U
W   W X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V
X   X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
Y   Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X
Z   Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y

To encipher a message, repeat the keyword above the plaintext:

FORTIFICATIONFORTIFICATIONFO
DEFENDTHEEASTWALLOFTHECASTLE

(The following assumes we are enciphering the plaintext letter D with the key letter F) Now we take the letter we will be encoding, and find the column on the tableau, in this case the 'D' column. Then, we move down the 'D' column of the tableau until we come to the key letter, in this case 'F' (The 'F' is the keyword letter for the first 'D'). Our ciphertext character is then read from the far left of the row our key character was in, i.e. with 'D' plaintext and 'F' key, our ciphertext character is 'C'.

So, the ciphertext for the above plaintext is:

FORTIFICATIONFORTIFICATIONFO
DEFENDTHEEASTWALLOFTHECASTLE
CKMPVCPVWPIWUJOGIUAPVWRIWUUK

Deciphering is performed in an identical fashion, i.e. encryption and decryption using the Beaufort Cipher uses exactly the same algorithm.

This process can be compared to the Vigenère Cipher, which uses a different algorithm, but the same tableau, for finding the ciphertext characters.

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