Students at Colegio Nuestra Señora de la Consolación in Quintanar de la Orden, Toledo, recently took part in an exciting piloting session as part of the CipherEngine Erasmus+ initiative.
The session was especially meaningful for one of the facilitators, Isaac, who returned to his old school to share his passion for cybersecurity with the next generation. Together with Antonio, both from the GRAFO Research Group at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, they introduced students aged 12 to 15 to the fascinating world of cryptography and digital safety.
The session covered key concepts in cybersecurity and classical cryptography, including the difference between transposition and substitution ciphers, and core ideas such as plaintext, algorithm, key, and ciphertext. Students took on three hands-on activities:
The Scytale – students created their own scytale cipher using a strip of paper and a tube, encoding secret messages and challenging their classmates to decrypt them without knowing the key.
ROT-3 and ROT-13 – students practised substitution ciphers, encrypting and decrypting messages and debating how many possible keys exist and how an attacker might break them.
The Polybius Square – students explored this classic grid-based cipher and discussed how to design a square that is hard to guess but easy to remember.
Throughout the session, students were encouraged to think critically: How could an attacker break these ciphers? Why are classical ciphers not considered secure today? What is the difference between encrypting and decrypting, and when would you use each?
We are proud to bring this initiative to Spain and look forward to continuing to inspire the next generation of digital citizens. 🇪🇸🔐