Another well-known substitution cipher is the “pigpen cipher” or “Freemason’s cipher”. As the name suggests, it was often used by Freemasons to encrypt their messages. However, as time has passed, it has become so well-known that it is not a very secure cipher at all.
The pigpen cipher does not substitute the letter for another letter, but instead uses a symbol that is derived from a grid-shaped key. The key is made of two 3×3 grids (#)(one without dots, one with dots) and two 2×2 grids (X)(one without dots, one with dots). The letters are filled in systematically so that each shape represents a certain letter (e.g. v=s, >=t, <=u, ^=v)
The cipher has many variations that attempt to throw off an attacker by rearranging the order of the grids or the letters. Thus, even if a cunning attacker picks up on the fact that the cipher is a pigpen cipher, they may use the wrong key and get a completely wrong message. Nonetheless, it is a useful skill to recognise the unique symbols of the pigpen cipher as it is a popular cipher used commonly in puzzles.
As with any substitution ciphers, frequency analysis and pattern recognition is the key to cracking the pigpen cipher.
