Main Window
Main Window
Enter tip/crib, if known
Used to enter a plaintext word or phrase present in the plaintext. Spaces and punctuation can be entered but will be ignored.
If a tip is found in the enciphered text the resulting score is increased by the percentage set in the Options - Miscellaneous window. This will move the plaintext to a higher position in the solutions list. If the cipher type selected is either Monome-Dinome or Nihilist Substitution the score will be increased if the text pattern of the tip is found in the resulting text.
The button next to the textbox clears the contents of the field.
Keep crib on cipher change
Selecting this option will prevent the entered tip/crib from being deleted after changing the cipher type or loading a new cipher.
Enter key, if known
Used to enter a keyword to solve the cipher. Hovering the pointer over the textbox will reveal a tooltip which indicates the type and number of keywords required. This depends on the cipher type selected. Where required multiple keywords can be separated with any of the following characters: space,.:/-.
If a keyword is entered into the textbox the solver will use that to solve the cipher.
The button next to the textbox clears the contents of the field.
Character frequency
The character frequency field displays the frequency of the entered ciphertext characters valid for the selected cipher type. The options above the field change the order of the results and the character group lengths.
Sorted
Selecting the Sorted option will show the cipher frequency count either by order of frequency or alphabetic order.
All contacts
When a character group of two or more is selected the frequency of every nth group will be shown where n is the group length. So, if 2-Grams is selected the cipher text ABCDEF will show a count of three pairs (AB, CD and EF).
Selecting All Contacts will count every group at every position. So, with 2-Grams selected, cipher text ABCDEF will show a count of five pairs (AB, BC, CD, DE and EF).
Cipher length
When a cipher is loaded or pasted into the cipher text field the cipher length field displays two numbers. The first number is the total number of valid cipher characters for the selected cipher type. The second number indicates the total number of characters in the original cipher including letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation and new line characters.
Ciphertext
Ciphers can be entered into CryptoCrack by reading them from a file or entering them directly into the Ciphertext field. If using this latter method press the tab key or moving the cursor into another field after entering or amending the cipher will update the frequency count and cipher length and for the tool to recognize the new/amended cipher text.
If reading the ciphertext from a file the filename will be shown after the Ciphertext label.
Best Results
Best match
After selecting Solve in the ribbon bar to start solving a cipher the best match found will be displayed.
Best key
After selecting Solve in the ribbon bar to start solving a cipher the best key found will be displayed.
Keyword
After selecting Solve in the ribbon bar to start solving a cipher using a dictionary search the best dictionary keyword found will be displayed.
Best score
Shows the score from the Best match plaintext.
Top solutions
Shows the best top 10 scoring plaintexts and their score. To see more results select the All Solutions button in the Home tab. Hold the Ctrl key then press the mouse button on one of the top solutions to copy it to the Best match, Best key and Best score fields.
Keys tested
Shows the number of keys tested.
Key Square
After selecting Solve in the ribbon bar to start solving a cipher using a dictionary search the best dictionary keyword found will be displayed.
Status Bar
This contains four panels.
The first panel shows the solving method being used; Brute force or Dictionary search. It is dependent on the Dictionary search option selection and selected cipher type.
The second panel displays the selected missing letter in a 5x5 key square and the letter which replaces it. The missing letter is usually ‘J’ and ‘I’ is used in its place though this can vary. The two letters are set in the Tools - Options - Miscellaneous window. It is displayed only if applicable to the selected cipher type i.e. Bazeries, Bifid, Checkerboard, CM Bifid, Four Square, Homophonic, Nihilist Transposition, Phillips, Playfair, Seriated Playfair, Tri-Square and Two Square.
The third panel shows information messages such as the period length being tested or the action currently being undertaken by the program.
The final panel is used to display a progress bar for the solving progress. This is also shown on the Windows 11/10 taskbar.