Choose Your Cipher_
An interactive, visualized playground for cryptography.
The Core of Cyber Security
Modern cryptography relies heavily on two completely different paradigms: Symmetric (Private Key) and Asymmetric (Public Key) cryptography.
🔑 Symmetric (Private Key)
In Symmetric cryptography, the same key is used to both encrypt and decrypt the message. It is incredibly fast and efficient for bulk data (like encrypting a hard drive or video stream).
The Flaw: Both the sender and receiver must secretly share this key beforehand. If a hacker intercepts the key during transmission, the entire system is broken.
Examples: AES, DES, ChaCha20.
🌍 Asymmetric (Public Key)
In Asymmetric cryptography, there are two mathematically linked keys. You have a Public Key that anyone in the world can see, and a Private Key that only you know.
Anyone can use your Public Key to encrypt a message, but only your Private Key can decrypt it. This solves the key-sharing problem entirely, forming the basis of secure internet communication (HTTPS).
Examples: RSA, Elliptic-Curve (ECC).
Beginner Ciphers
Caesar Cipher
Shift each letter by a fixed number of steps around the alphabet.
Atbash Cipher
Mirror the alphabet so A↔Z, B↔Y, C↔X and so on.
Vigenère Cipher
Use a repeating keyword to apply many Caesar shifts to your message.
Rail Fence Cipher
Write letters in a zig-zag across rails, then read them row by row.
Columnar Transposition
Write the text in rows under a keyword, then read columns in a permuted order.
Intermediate Ciphers
Playfair Cipher
Encrypt pairs of letters using a 5×5 key square built from a keyword.
Hill Cipher
Treat blocks of letters as vectors and encrypt them with matrix multiplication mod 26.
RC4 (Historical Stream Cipher)
A once-popular stream cipher now mostly used as a cautionary example.
ChaCha20 (Modern Stream Cipher)
A fast, modern stream cipher designed to be simple and resistant to timing attacks.
Advanced Ciphers
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
Modern standard block cipher that encrypts 128-bit blocks with 128/192/256-bit keys.
DES / 3DES
Earlier block cipher standard; useful for history but no longer secure on its own.
RSA
Asymmetric scheme based on the difficulty of factoring large integers.
Elliptic-Curve Cryptography (ECC)
Public-key techniques built on algebraic curves, giving strong security with shorter keys.
AES-GCM (AES in Galois/Counter Mode)
Combines AES with a counter and a Galois-field MAC to give confidentiality and integrity.
ChaCha20-Poly1305
Pairs the ChaCha20 stream cipher with the Poly1305 message authentication code.
SHA-256 (Cryptographic Hash)
Maps data of any length to a fixed 256-bit digest in a way that is hard to reverse or collide.
Argon2 (Password Hashing)
A modern password hashing algorithm designed to be slow and memory-hard.
Hybrid RSA + AES
Use RSA for keys and AES for bulk data so you get the best of both worlds.
TLS-Style Handshake Overview
How your browser and a server agree on keys and algorithms before using symmetric encryption.