Mechanical transposition cipher using cylindrical device with rotating disks. Text written horizontally around cylinder then read vertically. Invented by Étienne Bazeries for French military communications in 1891.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Category | Classical Ciphers |
| Sub-category | Classical Cipher |
| Security status | 🎓 Educational Only |
| Complexity | Intermediate |
| Inventor | Étienne Bazeries |
| Year | 1891 |
| Origin | 🇫🇷 France |
| Source | algorithms/classical/bazeries.js |
Status: 🎓 Educational Only
| Issue | Description | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|
| As transposition cipher, preserves letter frequencies making frequency analysis effective | — | Historical significance only - not suitable for modern security applications |
| Knowledge of plaintext portion reveals transposition pattern and allows key recovery | — | Avoid predictable message formats and standard headers |
3 vectors ship with this algorithm and run in the test suite. Byte values are hexadecimal.
Vector 1 — Historical Bazeries Example
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
key |
434950484552 |
input |
444546454e445448454541535457414c4c4f46544845434153544c45 |
expected |
44545446534e414c4345454c45454548575454464541484c44534f41 |
Vector 2 — Educational Demonstration
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
key |
4b4559 |
input |
48454c4c4f |
expected |
454f484c4c |
Vector 3 — Matrix Transposition Test
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
key |
534543524554 |
input |
43525950544f475241504859 |
expected |
594152525448505043474f59 |