Codebusters Test Learning Standards 3

Question 1

In a columnar transposition cipher, what determines the order in which columns are read?

Accepted Answer

The alphabetical order of the keyword letters

Answer

The length of each column

Answer

The frequency of letters in each column

Answer

The number of vowels in the keyword

Question 2

Which cipher type uses two interlocked 'rails' for encipherment, forming a zigzag pattern?

Accepted Answer

Rail fence cipher

Answer

Columnar transposition

Answer

Playfair cipher

Answer

Grille cipher

Question 3

In Codebusters, what is a 'null' character?

Accepted Answer

An inserted character that carries no message content

Answer

A zero used instead of the letter O

Answer

A repeated letter used to confuse frequency analysis

Answer

A space encoded as a punctuation mark

Question 4

The Atbash cipher maps A↔Z, B↔Y, C↔X, etc. What kind of cipher is this?

Accepted Answer

A monoalphabetic substitution cipher

Answer

A polyalphabetic substitution cipher

Answer

A transposition cipher

Answer

A symmetric key stream cipher

Question 5

In a Xenocrypt event (Spanish Aristocrat), which Spanish letter pair is particularly important to recognize because it acts as a single unit?

Accepted Answer

LL and RR (traditional digraphs)

Answer

CH and NH

Answer

QU and GU

Answer

ÑO and ÁE

Question 6

What is the term for the process of finding the original plaintext from ciphertext without knowing the key?

Accepted Answer

Cryptanalysis

Answer

Encipherment

Answer

Steganography

Answer

Key scheduling

Question 7

In the Morbit cipher, what is the basic unit that each symbol represents?

Accepted Answer

A Morse code element (dot or dash) for half a letter

Answer

A full plaintext letter

Answer

A two-letter digraph

Answer

A space between words