Cryptology is a science of making and solving of codes and ciphers. Cipher is a method of transforming a message to hide its meaning. Cryptography is the process of creating codes and ciphers to communicate messages not known to unauthorized persons. Cryptanalysis is the process of solving, or breaking cryptographic messages, it is also called codebreaking. Cryptography is mostly used in the military services of most countries, messages that contains valuable information are routinely put into secret form. The National Security Agency is mostly responsible for making and deciphering (decode or breaking of codes)

Codes and Ciphers:

Codes are somewhat more difficult to solve than ciphers.In secret codes the unit to be disquised may be an entire word, phrase, or sentence. The content of a code meaning is limited by the terms listed in the code book. In a cipher the basic unit to be solve is the letter. Besides having greater flexibility, ciphers are more accurate. If one or two letters are enciphered incorrectly, the decipherer can still understand the overall message. The encipherer is the one sending the message to be deciphered.

Secret Codes is a specialized form of substitution cipher. Short groups of letters or numbers are used to disguise plaintext terms. In using codes, sender and receiver prepare a code book. The encode section of the book lists terms alphabetically and their code group equivalents. The decode section of the book lists code groups in numerical order and their meanings.

How to Encipher:

To encipher the original message or plaintext, cryptographers rely on two principal methods of concealment, one is transposition, in which letters are rearranged into a new order, and substitution, in which letters are replaced, usually by other letters. Sometimes numbers or a combination of numbers and letters are used in substitution: The sender and receiver agree on a key which are word, phrase, or a jumble of letters, that indicates such things as the pattern of substitution and the pattern of transposition.

Other Forms of Secret Communication

• Window system is a secret of communication that uses a grille, a sheet of paper or cardboard in which a specific pattern of windows, or openings, is cut. The message is written through the series of openings onto a second sheet of paper. The window paper is then removed, and the remainder of the sheet underneath is covered with letters and words, creating a seemingly innocent message. The receiver reads the true message by covering the sheet with a copy of grille.

• Invisible ink is another form of secret communication that uses a normally a colorless liquid that becomes colored and visible when treated in some special manner. An invisible messages written in lemon juice, for instance, become visible when the paper is heated.

• Microscopic writing - is so small that the naked eye can only see a complete paragraphs as tiny marks. Those messages were written in normal size and then copied in reduced size by photographic methods.

• Scrambling - is an electronic technique used to jumble radio and telephone messages into meaningless noises. An electronic device at the receiving end unscrambles the noises.