Comments for Roger Williams' Cipher Cracked

Comment from Jonadab on 2012-12-11

2012-12-11T07:05:39Z

The article has clearly not been checked for accuracy at all. Among other things, it claims that Williams was the first person to argue in favor of separation of church and state. (He wasn't even born until 1603; Menno Simons, just to pick an arbitrary and rather obvious counterexample, had been dead for more than 40 years by then.)

Comment from Figureitout on 2012-12-06

2012-12-06T21:08:04Z

I've always wondered if a code's really been cracked. With an active MiTM attack you could at least test it w/ Bob in real time; but what if the "plaintext" is just another cipher/OTP? Because wouldn't a brilliant bit of code slip right by looking like normal convos? Kind of maddening to think about...

Comment from Miguel Farah on 2012-12-06

2012-12-06T12:24:20Z

@Eric TF: "There is no God but Google!".

I thought he was your feudal lord?

Comment from Winter on 2012-12-06

2012-12-06T11:09:44Z

"Note that this wasn't intended as a secret cipher. It was really just a personal shorthand system, and based quite clearly on a well-documented and common shorthand of the time."

There is a maxim in (historical) linguistics:
If the underlying language is known, any script can be deciphered.
In most cases, knowing a related or descended language suffices. However, you may need a lot of text.

Comment from Threefish on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T18:43:22Z

Insufficient diffusion.

Comment from stvs on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T15:00:41Z

Seriously, there's an excellent On Point radio show about Roger Williams's influential role on Church and State in America, here.

Comment from Lowell Gilbert on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T14:57:30Z

Note that this wasn't intended as a secret cipher. It was really just a personal shorthand system, and based quite clearly on a well-documented and common shorthand of the time. Although these notes are of some historical interest, they were pretty much in accord with things that he (Roger Williams, the founder of my home state -- Rhode Island) had said more publicly in earlier years. What made it difficult to crack was mostly the abbreviations for specialized theological vocabulary.

Comment from stvs on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T14:50:41Z

So what did the cipher text say?

Roger Williams's cipher notes from the margins of An Essay Towards the Reconciling of Differences Among Christians:

There iﬅ no god but God, Lord Muhammad is the meﬀenger of God. … They surely difbelieve who say: Lo! God is the third of three; when there is no God save the One God. If they defift not from so saying a painful doom will fall on thofe of them who difbelieve. —Qur'an, Sura 5:72–73

Comment from Dave Sill on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T14:12:01Z

Argh. So what did the cipher text say?

Comment from Judith on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T13:56:35Z

Brown University article has more details
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/12/04/...

and a link to great scans of the original code writing
http://archive.org/stream/...

Comment from Jonathan Zdziarski on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T12:57:40Z

400 years to break a cipher. I'm good with that.

Comment from Geekbrit on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T12:40:39Z

It isn't a particularly good link even within the US - it took me through to the Buffalo News Association website. Another victory for the Dead Tree media.

Comment from founditmaybe on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T12:38:29Z

Try:
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/code-used-founding-father-finally-cracked

Comment from Eric TF Bat on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T12:38:06Z

Here's a non-broken link:

http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/11/30/3084307/...

There is no God but Google!

Comment from Anonymous Coward on 2012-12-05

2012-12-05T12:34:24Z

The link seems to be unavailable outside US.