# Cracking simple XOR cipher with simulated annealing, part II

DevFeed: [Cracking simple XOR cipher with simulated annealing, part II](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/cracking-simple-xor-cipher-with-simulated-annealing-part-ii-20548.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://yurichev.com/blog/SA_XOR_nethack/>)

Published: 2026-06-21T22:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [Dennis Yurichev](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/dennis-yurichev.md>)

Topics: [Encryption](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/encryption.md>), [Cryptography](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cryptography.md>), [Script](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/script.md>)

Tags: [encryption](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/encryption.md>), [script](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/script.md>), [video](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/video.md>), [xor](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/xor.md>)

## AI overview

A technical blog post describes using simulated annealing to crack a simple XOR cipher found in NetHack's nhdat file. The author identifies a repeating five-character pattern, finds the XOR key, and confirms that the decrypted result is English text.

## Source excerpt

Cracking simple XOR cipher with simulated annealing, part II