Final answer:
When dealing with cryptography, it is important to understand common terms such as encryption, decryption, cipher, key, and hash function.
Step-by-step explanation:
Key Terms in Cryptography
When dealing with cryptography, it is important to understand some common terms. Here are a few:
- Encryption: The process of converting plaintext (normal text) into ciphertext (encrypted text) using an encryption algorithm and a secret key.
- Decryption: The reverse process of encryption, where ciphertext is converted back to plaintext using a decryption algorithm and the same secret key.
- Cipher: An algorithm used for encryption or decryption.
- Key: A value or a set of values used by a cipher to encrypt or decrypt data.
- Hash function: A mathematical function that takes an input and produces a fixed-size string of characters, which is unique to that input.