Vigenère Cracking Lab

A long message, enciphered with a keyword you don't know. Guess the key length, look at every N-th letter, and read the keyword out of the peaks.

Ciphertext

Use your own text

Paste a ciphertext whose key you don't know, or paste a plaintext and a key to make a fresh challenge. Letters only are used; everything else is dropped.

Evidence for the key length

Average index of coincidence across the N streams. Ticks at 0.038 (random) and 0.066 (English).

When N is right, or a multiple of the right length, every stream is a Caesar cipher and its IC jumps toward English.

Share of repeat distances divisible by N.

Frequency analysis at key length Stream i holds letters i, i+N, i+2N, … Click the bar you think is E.

Your key