
- Home
- Overview
- Double Strength Encryption
- Python Overview and Installation
- Reverse Cipher
- Caesar Cipher
- ROT13 Algorithm
- Transposition Cipher
- Encryption of Transposition Cipher
- Decryption of Transposition Cipher
- Encryption of files
- Decryption of files
- Base64 Encoding & Decoding
- XOR Process
- Multiplicative Cipher
- Affine Ciphers
- Hacking Monoalphabetic Cipher
- Simple Substitution Cipher
- Testing of Simple Substitution Cipher
- Decryption of Simple Substitution Cipher
- Python Modules of Cryptography
- Understanding Vignere Cipher
- Implementing Vignere Cipher
- One Time Pad Cipher
- Implementation of One Time Pad Cipher
- Symmetric & Asymmetric Cryptography
- Understanding RSA Algorithm
- Creating RSA Keys
- RSA Cipher Encryption
- RSA Cipher Decryption
- Hacking RSA Cipher
Cryptography with Python - ROT13 Algorithm
Till now, you have learnt about reverse cipher and Caesar cipher algorithms. Now, let us discuss the ROT13 algorithm and its implementation.
Explanation of ROT13 Algorithm
ROT13 cipher refers to the abbreviated form Rotate by 13 places. It is a special case of Caesar Cipher in which shift is always 13. Every letter is shifted by 13 places to encrypt or decrypt the message.
Example
The following diagram explains the ROT13 algorithm process pictorially −

Program Code
The program implementation of ROT13 algorithm is as follows −
from string import maketrans rot13trans = maketrans('ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz', 'NOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklm') # Function to translate plain text def rot13(text): return text.translate(rot13trans) def main(): txt = "ROT13 Algorithm" print rot13(txt) if __name__ == "__main__": main()
You can see the ROT13 output as shown in the following image −

Drawback
The ROT13 algorithm uses 13 shifts. Therefore, it is very easy to shift the characters in the reverse manner to decrypt the cipher text.
Analysis of ROT13 Algorithm
ROT13 cipher algorithm is considered as special case of Caesar Cipher. It is not a very secure algorithm and can be broken easily with frequency analysis or by just trying possible 25 keys whereas ROT13 can be broken by shifting 13 places. Therefore, it does not include any practical use.