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Learning Opportunities
This puzzle can be solved using the following concepts. Practice using these concepts and improve your skills.
Statement
Goal
[Agent Y to Base]I've just arrived at the port, so there's no sign of Agent X yet.
[Base]
Look for information, he must have left us a trail.
[Agent Y]
I've just found a bottle floating. I'm going to check it out.
[Base]
OK, got it.
[Agent Y]
I've found a message left inside by Agent X. This time it's encrypted using the Vigenère method. Fortunately, he left us the size of the key to use. What's more, it seems to me that you know the words that Agent X uses all the time.
[Base]
Ok, send us the data we will decrypt this.
The Vigenère cipher is a secure method of encrypting text through polyalphabetic substitution, using a keyword to shift letters in the message being encrypted.
1st - Select a Keyword: Choose a keyword, for instance,
2nd - Prepare the Message: Take your message, say
3rd - Align Keyword: Repeat the keyword to match the message's length. For
4th - Shift Letters: Shift each letter in your message based on the corresponding letter in the keyword. The shift amount comes from the letter's position in the alphabet (
When we repeat the keyword, we ignore any non-letter characters. For example, the pattern of the keyword
Note that the shifting is case insensitive but conserves case, also non-letter characters are kept unchanged.
The Vigenère cipher's use of different shifts, based on the keyword, makes it harder to crack than simple substitution ciphers. Despite this, with enough text and some knowledge of the underlying language, it's still vulnerable to specific cryptanalysis techniques.
You'll have to decrypt the message left by Agent X. To do so you are given the key_length of the key and a word in the message.
Words are always separated by
Input
Line 1 ciphertext : The encrypted message
Line 2 key_length : The size of the key
Line 3 word : A word that is guaranteed to be in the decrypted message, in upper case
Line 2 key_length : The size of the key
Line 3 word : A word that is guaranteed to be in the decrypted message, in upper case
Output
Line 1 key : The key used for encrypting the message
Line 2 plaintext : The decrypted message or the first900 characters if there are more than 900
Line 2 plaintext : The decrypted message or the first
Constraints
word contains English letters only and is longer than key.
With the given input you can always deduce 1 and only 1 solution.
With the given input you can always deduce 1 and only 1 solution.
Example
Input
Hfte Bieov X, Ogee jemr qvkcl! 3 AGENT
Output
ABC Here Agent X, Need help quick!
A higher resolution is required to access the IDE