List of ciphertexts

(Redirected from List of famous ciphertexts)

Some famous ciphertexts (or cryptograms), in chronological order by date, are:

Shugborough inscription in England
Year of originCiphertextDecipherment status
2nd millennium BCPhaistos DiscUnsolved
179-180Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 90Unsolved
1400s (15th century)Voynich ManuscriptUnsolved
1500s (16th century) (?)Rohonc CodexUnsolved
1586Babington Plot ciphersSolved
17th centuryGreat CipherSolved
1730Olivier Levasseur's treasure cryptogramUnsolved
1748–1756Shugborough inscriptionUnsolved
1760–1780Copiale cipherSolved in 2011
1843"The Gold-Bug" cryptogram by Edgar Allan PoeSolved (solution given within the short story)
1882Debosnys cipherUnsolved
1885Beale ciphersPartially solved (1 out of the 3 ciphertexts solved between 1845–1885)
1897Dorabella CipherUnsolved
1903"The Adventure of the Dancing Men" code by Arthur Conan DoyleSolved (solution given within the short story)
1917Zimmermann TelegramSolved within days of transmission
1918ChaocipherSolved
1918–1945Enigma machine messagesSolved (broken by Polish and Allied cryptographers between 1932 and 1945)
1939D'Agapeyeff cipherUnsolved
1939–1945Purple cipher machine messagesSolved (broken by Allied cryptographers in 1940)
1941Lorenz SZ42 machine cipher messagesSolved (broken by Allied cryptographers in 1942)
1944Pigeon NURP 40 TW 194Unsolved
1948Tamam Shud caseUnsolved
1950(?)James HamptonUnsolved
1969Zodiac Killer ciphersPartially solved (2 out of the 4 ciphertexts solved between 1969–2020)
1977The Magic Words are Squeamish OssifrageSolved in 1993–1994
1983DecipherSolved [1]
1986Decipher IIPartially solved (3 out of 4 ciphertexts solved between 1985 and 1986) [2]
1987Decipher IIIUnsolved[2]
1990KryptosPartially solved (3 out of the 4 ciphertexts solved between 1992–1999)
1991Scorpion ciphers[3]Unsolved
1999Ricky McCormick's encrypted notesUnsolved
2006Smithy code, embedded within the 2006 judgment on The Da Vinci Code caseSolved within month of publication
2012–2016Cicada 3301 puzzlesPartially solved (2 out of 3 puzzles solved)
201511B-X-1371Solved

See also

References