File:Caesar_cipher_left_shift_of_3.svg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Caesar cipher
Sign in to saveAlso known as Caesar's cipher, shift cipher, Caesar's code, Caesar shift
simple and widely known encryption technique
A Caesar cipher is a simple encryption technique that shifts each letter in a message by a fixed number of positions in the alphabet, making the text unreadable without knowing the shift amount. It matters as a foundational example in cryptography that illustrates basic principles of how information can be scrambled and unscrambled, though it's too simple to provide real security by modern standards.
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The action of a Caesar cipher is to replace each plaintext letter with a different one a fixed number of places down the alphabet. The cipher illustrated here uses a left shift of 3, so that (for example) each occurrence of E in the plaintext becomes B in the ciphertext. Enciphering an alphabet letter with a key of
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