Editing Transposition cipher (section)

== Rail Fence cipher ==
{{Main|Rail fence cipher}}
The Rail Fence cipher is a form of transposition cipher that gets its name from the way in which it is encoded. In the rail fence cipher, the plaintext is written downward and diagonally on successive "rails" of an imaginary fence, then moves up when it gets to the bottom. The message is then read off in rows. For example, using three "rails" and a message of 'WE ARE DISCOVERED FLEE AT ONCE', the encrypter writes out:
 W . . . E . . . C . . . R . . . L . . . T . . . E
 . E . R . D . S . O . E . E . F . E . A . O . C .
 . . A . . . I . . . V . . . D . . . E . . . N . .

Then reads off:

 WECRL TEERD SOEEF EAOCA IVDEN

(The cipher has broken this ciphertext up into blocks of five to help avoid errors. This is a common technique used to make the cipher more easily readable. The spacing is not related to spaces in the plaintext and so does not carry any information about the plaintext.)