viper_in_the_grass

viper_in_the_grass t1_ixtksj7 wrote

>However, initial results suggested that the software would need a period of time greater than the age of the universe to crack the code.

Wow! Now that was a code!

>Seeking to speed up the process, Pierrot enlisted the help of historian Camille Desenclos, who pointed her in the direction of other letters addressed to Jean de Saint-Mauris. Luckily, one of these documents included a rough key to the code scribbled in the margin.

Of course it did. If this guy lived today, he'd tape his passwords under his keyboard.

>Among the tricks employed by Charles V to throw potential interceptors off the scent were meaningless characters interspersed throughout the text, which acted as red herrings that had to be overlooked in order to read the message.

This is really neat!

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