Dictionary · Cybersecurity Fundamentals
Encryption
Cryptography · Beginner
Transforming readable data into an unreadable form that can be restored only with the proper key. It protects confidentiality, not by itself the identity of the sender.
This transformation is reversible if you have the key. That is different from a one-way fingerprint, which is not meant to be turned back into the original.
Example: A laptop disk uses encryption so a stolen drive is unreadable without the key.
Common misconception
- It does not automatically prove who created a message. A signature or authenticated mode is a separate property.