User:Stevebkk
The Cardan Grille
In 1550, Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), known in French as Jerome Cardan, proposed a simple grid for writing hidden messages. He intended to cloak his messages inside an ordinary letter so that the whole would not appear to be a cipher at all.
A Cardan grille was made from a sheet of fairly rigid paper or parchment, or from thin metal. The paper was ruled to represent lines of handwriting and rectangular areas were cut out at arbitrary intervals between these lines.
An encipherer put the grille on a sheet of paper and wrote his message in the rectangular apertures, some of which might allow a single letter, a syllable, or a whole word. Then, removing the grille, the fragments were filled out to create a note or letter that disguised the true message. Cardano suggested drafting the text three times in order to smooth any irregularities that might indicate the hidden words.
Clearly the recipient of the message must possess an identical grille. Copies of grilles were cut from an original template, but many different patterns could be made for one to one correspondence.
Also the grille has four positions – face up and face down, upright and reversed – which increases the number of possible cell positions fourfold.
In practice it is hard to construct an innocent message around a hidden text. Stilted language draws attention to itself and the point of the Cardan grille was to create a message “without suspition” in the words of Francis Bacon. But the task was easier for Cardano because 16th century spelling was not standardised and left much room for contractions and adornments of penmanship.
The above message can be sent in forced language without a grille:
AS upon last time’s answer, is Marston rightly claiming issues with intent? IMmoderate says my Attorney; more papers. Are amends assumed?
Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642) was reputed to be fond of the Cardan grille and to have used it in both private and diplomatic correspondence. Educated men in 17th century Europe were familiar with word games in literature, including acrostics, anagrams, and ciphers.
Although the original Cardan grilles were little used by the end of the 17th century, they still appeared occasionally in the form of masked letters and as literary curiosities. George Gordon Byron, for example, claimed to have formed a verse around a Cardan grille message – but as a demonstration of verbal skill rather than a serious cipher.
Alternative grilles possess apertures for single letters only and can be used quickly. Messages are filled out with a jumble of letters or numbers and are clearly cryptograms whereas Cardano intended to create steganograms.
These single-letter grilles may be named after Cardano but they are also called cardboard ciphers.
A further variation is a turning grille or trellis, based on the chess board, which was used in the latter 16th century.
The turning grille reappeared in a more sophisticated form at the end of the 19th century; but, by this time, any connection with Cardano was in name alone.
Detection of Cardano Grille Messages
When executed badly, a Cardan message stands out because of stilted language and uneven writing. An analyst may attempt to reconstruct the grille when there are several examples of suspect messages from a correspondent.
When executed well, a Cardan message can be difficult to spot. Even when an analyst suspects the presence of a message, an innocent letter can contain apparent hidden text when read with the anagramming eye of a suspicious or wishful sleuth.
Disadvantages of Cardan Grilles
The method is slow and requires literary skill. Above all, any physical cipher device is subject to loss, theft and seizure; so to lose one grille is to lose all secret correspondence constructed with that grille.
The Cardan Grille, in its original form, is of more literary than cryptographic interest.
References
• David Kahn, The Codebreakers — The Comprehensive History of Secret Communication from Ancient Times to the Internet, 1996, ISBN 0684831309.
External References
http://www.si.umich.edu/spies/methods-mask.html
http://www.quadibloc.com/crypto/pp0102.htm
--Steve 11:50, 22 May 2006 (UTC)