Westerlinck Code

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Westerlinck code (or “one, one, one” code) is a symmetrical steganographic method. The result is an inconspicuous, plausible , normally readable text that conceals the actual message.

Encryption

  1. Each letter of the plaintext to be encrypted is represented by a three-digit cipher . Set of values is a shifted ternary system {111, 112, 113, 121,… 333}, with which letters are clearly mapped.
  2. Each digit is represented by a plain text readable word; the numerical value of the digit determines the number of syllables in the word.
  3. A group of three of one to three syllable words forms a cipher. Words with more than three syllables can be used as filler words to increase the plausibility of the text.

Example (coding of the cipher 112 in a text): 

n → 112
1 → I; 1 → know; 2 → no-thing
n → I know nothing.

safety

The inconspicuousness is optimal if the illustration in (1) is chosen so that the letter frequencies of normal texts correspond to the syllable frequency distribution of normal texts. Without extensions, its protection against decryption is minimal.

Without extensions, the process is susceptible to censors: 

I know nothing → I don't know anything.
I don't know → 111
111 → e

Practical meaning

Computer-aided processes of this type are suitable for embedding watermarks in texts as a protective measure against plagiarism by means of copy & paste .

Web links