CG: n

CT: Although encrypted data appears random, encryption proceeds in a logical, predictable way, allowing a party that receives the encrypted data and possesses the right key to decrypt the data, turning it back into plaintext. Truly secure encryption will use keys complex enough that a third party is highly unlikely to decrypt or break the ciphertext by brute force — in other words, by guessing the key.

S: CLOUD – https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-encryption/ (last access: 20 January 2021)

N: 1. It comes from encript 1968 in telecommunications, a back-formation from encryption (1964), or from en- (1) + crypt (n.) on the notion of “hidden place”. Before vowels crypt-, word-forming element meaning “secret” or “hidden, not evident or obvious,” used in forming English words at least since 1760 (crypto-Calvinianism), from Latinized form of Greek kryptos “hidden, concealed, secret”.
2. A process that consists in transforming a set of data into a cryptogram.
3. A cryptographic key is a string of characters used within an encryption algorithm for altering data so that it appears random. Like a physical key, it locks (encrypts) data so that only someone with the right key can unlock (decrypt) it.
4. The two main kinds of encryption are symmetric encryption and asymmetric encryption. Asymmetric encryption is also known as public key encryption. In symmetric encryption, there is only one key, and all communicating parties use the same (secret) key for both encryption and decryption. In asymmetric, or public key, encryption, there are two keys: one key is used for encryption, and a different key is used for decryption. The decryption key is kept private (hence the “private key” name), while the encryption key is shared publicly, for anyone to use (hence the “public key” name). Asymmetric encryption is a foundational technology for TLS (often called SSL).

S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=encryption , https://www.etymonline.com/word/crypto- (last access: 20 January 2021). 2. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=cifrado&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 20 January 2021). 3&4. CLOUD – https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/what-is-encryption/ (last access: 20 January 2021)

SYN: encrypting, encipherment, enciphering, ciphering.

S: TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=cifrado&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 23 January 2021)

CR: asymmetric algorithm, malware.