Rail Fence Cipher (zigzag)
What is a Rail Fence Cipher (zigzag)?
Rail Fence cipher is a simple transposition cipher that writes the message in a zigzag pattern on a number of "rails" (horizontal lines), then reads off each rail to create the ciphertext. Despite its simplicity, it can effectively scramble text in a way that's not immediately obvious to read, though it's not considered cryptographically secure by modern standards.
Key Components:
1. Number of rails (key)
2. Message text
3. Zigzag pattern
4. Reading direction
Key Rules:
1. Write text diagonally down and up
2. Fill spaces in zigzag pattern
3. Read text horizontally by rail
4. Spaces are usually removed
Example with 3 rails:
Message: "HELLOWORLD"
H O L
↘ ↗ ↘ ↗ ↘
E L W R D
↘ ↗ ↘ ↗
L O
Result: "HELLOWORLD " → "HOLELWRDLO"