Cipher Decipher

The Cipher Decipher Blog

Guides, explanations, and technical deep-dives

Practical articles on ciphers, encoding standards, cryptanalysis, and data security — written for developers, students, and puzzle enthusiasts.

Latest post

Communication Codes8 min readJuly 1, 2025

A Practical Guide to the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Learn the NATO/ICAO phonetic alphabet — the full Alpha-to-Zulu table, why Niner means 9, how it was designed for radio clarity, and where it is used in aviation, military, and emergency services.

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Classical Ciphers9 min read

What Is the Caesar Cipher? History, Math, and How to Break It

The Caesar cipher is a rotation cipher documented by Suetonius in 121 CE. Learn the exact math behind it, how ROT13 works, and two methods that break it in seconds.

Developer Guides9 min read

The Difference Between Encoding, Encryption, and Hashing

Base64 is not encryption. MD5 should not store passwords. This guide defines all three precisely, shows the same input through each transformation, and explains when to use which.

Steganography10 min read

What Is Steganography? Hiding Data in Plain Sight

Steganography hides the existence of a message, not just its content. Learn how LSB image steganography works, how zero-width characters hide text, and how steganalysis detects hidden data.

Cryptanalysis9 min read

Frequency Analysis Explained: How to Break Any Substitution Cipher

Al-Kindi discovered frequency analysis in 9th-century Baghdad. The technique still breaks CTF substitution ciphers today. Here is how it works and how to apply it.

Communication Codes9 min read

Morse Code: International Standard, Timing, and Common Mistakes

The ITU-R M.1677-1 standard defines Morse code timing precisely. Learn the dot/dash ratios, the Koch and Farnsworth learning methods, and the difference between American and International Morse.

Hashing10 min read

How SHA-256 Works: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough for Developers

SHA-256 is defined in NIST FIPS 180-4. This walkthrough explains padding, message schedule expansion, the 64-round compression function, and why you should never use SHA-256 for passwords.

Classical Ciphers10 min read

How the Vigenère Cipher Works — And Why It Was Called Unbreakable

Understand how the Vigenère cipher uses a repeating key to defeat simple frequency analysis, and learn why the Kasiski examination breaks it anyway.

Cryptanalysis10 min read

How to Solve a CTF Cryptography Challenge: A Practical Framework

The hardest part of CTF crypto is identifying what you are looking at. Learn the four-step recognition-to-decryption framework for classical, encoding, and substitution cipher challenges.

Encoding9 min read

Base64 vs. Base62 vs. Base58: Which Encoding Belongs Where

Three base encoding schemes that look similar but solve different problems. Picking the wrong one can break URLs, confuse users, or add padding to JWTs.