Question

Homophonic substitution was one of the earlier attempts to make substitution ciphers more robust by_________ the letter frequencies. A) Homogenizing

B) Balancing

C) Equalizing

D) Randomizing

Answer 1

Homophonic substitution ciphers enhance the security of the encryption by homogenizing letter frequencies, thereby thwarting frequency analysis attacks.

Step-by-step explanation:

Homophonic substitution was one of the earlier attempts to make substitution ciphers more robust by homogenizing the letter frequencies. In cryptography, homophonic substitution ciphers are designed to flatten the frequency distribution of ciphertext letters, making frequency analysis much harder for an unauthorized interceptor to perform. Instead of mapping a plaintext letter to a single ciphertext symbol, homophonic substitution maps plaintext letters to multiple ciphertext symbols based on their frequency of use in the language.