Affine Cipher: WWW - Radford.edu

Affine Cipher
www.radford.edu
In shift ciphers, messages are encrypted by using
an additive key. To increase security, we can, in
addition to an additive parameter, encipher
messages using a multiplicative parameter.
In affine ciphers, the key used for encipherment

involves using both a multiplicative and additive
parameter. Before describing affine ciphers, we
give some necessary mathematics background.
Mathematics Background for
Affine Ciphers
• All natural numbers - numbers in the set
{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, }
can be expressed as the product of two or
more numbers. For example,
6  2  3, 20  4  5  2  2  5, and 7  1  7 .
Two numbers that can be multiplied together to
get another number are called the factors or
divisors of that number. For example,
• 6  23 (2 and 3 are the divisors or factors

of 6)
• 20  4  5  2  2  5 (2 and 5 are factors or

divisors of 20).
• 7  1 7 (1 and 7 are the divisors or factors

of 7).
Definition
• A natural number p is said to be prime if p  1
and its only divisors are 1 and p. A natural
number that is not prime is said to be
composite.
• It can be shown that there are an infinite
number of primes. The following set lists the
first ten primes:
{2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, }
The prime numbers provide the building blocks

of all numbers. The next theorem illustrates this
fundamental fact.
The Fundamental Theorem of
Arithmetic
• Every natural number larger than 1 is a product
of primes. This factorization can be done in only
one way if order is disregarded.
For example, to factor 30, we can compute
30  6  5  2 
3 
5 
3 
2 
5 5
 2
3
same prime factorization disregardi ng order
• An elementary way to obtain prime
factorizations with small prime factors involves
the use of a calculator and a factor tree.
Greatest Common Divisor
• The greatest common divisor of two
natural numbers a and b, denoted as
gcd(a, b) , is the largest natural number
that divides a and b with no remainder.
Elementary Method for Computing the gcd of
Two Numbers
• Decompose each number into its prime factors.

The gcd is obtained by multiplying the prime
factors the two numbers have in common. If the
two numbers have no common prime factors,
then the gcd = 1.
Example 3: Find the gcd(8, 12).
Solution:
Solution:
8 can be expressed as:
2x2x2

2x2x3
gcd(8,12) = 4
Solution:
Solution:
2x3x3x3

2x2x2x3
gcd(54,24) = 6
Solution:
Solution:
3x5

2 x 13
gcd(15,26) = 1
Note
• Two numbers a and b where the gcd(a, b)  1
are said to be relatively prime.
Multiplicative Inverses
• In the real number system, every non-zero
number has a multiplicative inverse – the
number you must multiply to a given
number to get 1.
Fact
• In the modular arithmetic system, a
multiplicative inverse may or may not exist,
depending on the following fact involving the
gcd:
If the gcd(b, m)  1 , then b has an inverse with

1
respect to the modulus m, that is, b exists.
Example 8: Does 8 have an inverse with respect
to the modulus 26?
Solution:
Example 8: Does 8 have an inverse with respect
to the modulus 26?
Solution:
NO, since gcd(8, 26) ≠ 1

Example 9: Does 9 have an inverse with
respect to the modulus 26?
Solution:
Example 9: Does 9 have an inverse with
respect to the modulus 26?
Solution:
YES, since gcd(9, 26) = 1

MOD 26 Multiplicative Inverse Table
a 1 3 5 7 9 11 15 17 19 21 23 25
a 1MOD 26 1 9 21 15 3 19 7 23 11 5 17 25
Example 10: Use the multiplicative inverse table
1
to find 7 MOD 26.
Solution:
Example 10: Use the multiplicative inverse table
1
to find 7 MOD 26.
Solution:
7-1 = 15
• Multiplicative inverses expand our ability to
solve equations and congruences in modular
arithmetic. This is made possible using the
multiplicative property of modular arithmetic,
which we state next.
Multiplicative Property for Modular Arithmetic
If a  b mod m, then
ka  kb mod m
for any number k.
Example 11: Solve 11x  1  5 mod 26 for x.
Solution:
• Multiplicative inverses in modular arithmetic can
be useful in solving systems of linear equations,
which are useful for cryptanalysis. This next
example illustrates this fact.
Example 12: Solve the system of equations
(congruences)
8a  b  18 mod 26
17 a  b  11 mod 26
Solution:
Mathematical Description of Affine
Ciphers
• Given a and b in Z 26  {0, 1, 2, , 24, 25}
where gcd(a, 26)  1.
We encipher a plaintext letter x to obtain a

ciphertext letter y by computing
y  (ax  b) MOD 26.
Here, the key is made up of a multiplicative

parameter a and an additive parameter b.
Example 13: Encipher “RADFORD” using the
affine cipher y  (5 x  4) MOD 26.
Solution:
Note
Recall that for an affine cipher y  (ax  b) MOD 26
to be defined properly, gcd(a, 26)  1 .
Besides allowing a recipient to decipher a

message, the next example illustrates another
reason why this requirement is essential.
Example 14 Use the affine cipher
y  (2 x  1) MOD 26 to encipher “AN”.
Solution:
Deciphering an Affine Cipher
• For an affine cipher y  (ax  b) mod 26 where
gcd(a, 26)  1 , decipherment can be done
uniquely. Given the numerical representation of
the plaintext message x and ciphertext
message y , we take
y  (ax  b) mod 26
Example 15: Decipher the message
“ARMMVKARER” that was encrypted using the
affine cipher
y  (3 x  5) MOD 26
• Solution:
Cryptanalysis of Affine Ciphers
• For an affine cipher y  (ax  b) MOD 26, an
enemy must know the multiplicative
parameter a and additive parameter b in
order to decipher and break a message.
Once a and b are known,
x  a 1 ( y  b) MOD 26
can be computed and the message broken.
Two methods of attack can be used to
attempt to break an affine cipher.
Methods for Breaking and Affine Cipher
1. Exhaustion. Note there are 12 possible

multiplicative parameters a where
gcd(a, 26) = 1 and 26 possible additive
parameters b . This gives 12  26  312 total
pairs (a, b) to test.
2. Frequency analysis. Quicker way which
involves matching to highly frequently
occurring ciphertext letters with two highly
frequently occurring plaintext letters. Involves
solving a system of equations MOD 26.
The next example illustrates method 2.

Example 16: Suppose we receive a ciphertext
that was enciphered using an affine cipher. After
running a frequency analysis on the ciphertext,
we find out that the most highly frequently
occurring letters in the ciphertext are W and H.
Assuming that these letters correspond to E and
T respectively, find the parameters and that
were used in the affine cipher.
Solution: Recall that for an affine cipher
y  (ax  b) mod 26
x is the numerical representation of the plaintext

letter and y is the numerical representation of the
ciphertext letter. Hence, using the MOD 26
alphabet assignment and the equation
y  (ax  b) mod 26 , we see that
Plaintext E  x  4 corresponds to the ciphertext
W  y  22 which gives the equation
22  (a  4  b) mod 26 (1)
Plaintext T  x  19 corresponds to the ciphertext

H  y  7 which gives the equation
7  (a 19  b) mod 26 (2)
Rearranging and putting these equations together

gives
4a  b  22 mod 26 (1)
19 a  b  7 mod 26 (2)
To find a, we must solve this system of equations.
To eliminate the parameter b, we subtract

equation (2) from equation (1):
4a  b  22 mod 26

19 a  b  7 mod 26
 15a  15 mod 26
Since  15 MOD 26  11, we can write the
resulting equation from the subtraction as:
11a  15 mod 26
We next solve this result by multiplying both sides

1
by 11 :
111 11 a  111 15 mod 26
Nothing from the MOD 26 multiplicative inverse

1
table that 11 mod 26  19 , we obtain
a  19  15 mod 26  285 mod 26  25
Hence a = 25. We can substitute a = 25 into

either equation (1) or (2) to find b. Choosing
equation (1) 4a  b  22 mod 26 , we obtain:
4(25)  b  22 mod 26
or
100  b  22 mod 26
Subtracting 100 from both sides gives
b  (22  100) mod 26

or
b  78 mod 26  0
Hence a = 25 and b = 0 solves the above system
of equations. Hence, the affine cipher
y = (25x + 0) mod 26 = 25x mod 26
was used to encrypt the message.

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Affine Cipher

In affine ciphers, the key used for encipherment

• 6  23 (2 and 3 are the divisors or factors

• 20  4  5  2  2  5 (2 and 5 are factors or

• 7  1 7 (1 and 7 are the divisors or factors

The prime numbers provide the building blocks

For example, to factor 30, we can compute

• Decompose each number into its prime factors.

12 can be expressed as:

24 can be expressed as:

26 can be expressed as:

If the gcd(b, m)  1 , then b has an inverse with

NO, since gcd(8, 26) ≠ 1

YES, since gcd(9, 26) = 1

Multiplicative Property for Modular Arithmetic

We encipher a plaintext letter x to obtain a

y  (ax  b) MOD 26.

Here, the key is made up of a multiplicative

Besides allowing a recipient to decipher a

1. Exhaustion. Note there are 12 possible

The next example illustrates method 2.

x is the numerical representation of the plaintext

Plaintext T  x  19 corresponds to the ciphertext

7  (a 19  b) mod 26 (2)

Rearranging and putting these equations together

To find a, we must solve this system of equations.

To eliminate the parameter b, we subtract

We next solve this result by multiplying both sides

Nothing from the MOD 26 multiplicative inverse

Hence a = 25. We can substitute a = 25 into

b  (22  100) mod 26

y = (25x + 0) mod 26 = 25x mod 26

was used to encrypt the message.

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