With sophisticated and detailed research on statistics, al-Kindī invented his system of cryptanalysis, later known as the frequency analysis. It’s not surprised that he was considered as the greatest scientist in the ninth century when many disciplines including mathematics, statistics and linguistics that are well developed today were still in their rudimentary stages; thus his research was undoubtedly remarkable. More importantly, the public, especially amateur cryptanalysts were not educated as well as those in today’s education system; few people were likely to have the opportunity to master, or even learn mathematics. Therefore those attempting to decipher encrypted messages had to depend merely on al-Kindī’s approach. However, things have changed.
Today’s schooling system guarantees the educational opportunity for almost everyone to learn basic mathematics and statistics, and to have personal perspectives on languages. As long as we comprehend the linguistic rules, do the math and then go through the process of trial and error, all of us can crack codes in our own ways.
The easy access to various resources and information should not be understated as well. Simply searching ‘cryptography’ on the Internet, even high school students are probably capable of decrypting substitution cipher. For those who want to dedicate more time and truly dive into code breaking, thousands of books will be available if they are willing to reach them. Learning new theories and grasping the nature of any discipline without instructions are no longer the missions impossible; in other words, self-study is relatively more feasible than ever before.
Generally, the simple truth is, we are getting more knowledgeable and everything is getting more accessible. Though code breaking is hard, the actual barrier for amateur cryptanalyst today may be their willingness to reach the resources and their persistence as well as patience when deciphering codes with complex encryption.
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