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Cybersecurity vocabulary · Encryption and Cryptography

Ciphertext

Meaning in cybersecurity, with examples

/ˈsaɪfərtekst/nounAdvanced term

In cybersecurity, ciphertext means: Data after it has been encrypted, which looks like random characters and cannot be understood without the correct key. The readable original is called plaintext.

In Turkish: şifreli metin, şifrelenmiş veri

How it is used

Mostly used in cryptography courses, standards and technical design documents, and almost always paired with plaintext: encryption turns plaintext into ciphertext, and decryption turns it back. 'Stored in plaintext' is a common, negative audit finding.

Example sentences

  1. Even if the database is stolen, the card numbers are only ciphertext without the key.

  2. The training tool shows the ciphertext and the plaintext side by side.

Common collocations

  • plaintext and ciphertext
  • stored in plaintext
  • cipher suite
  • block cipher
  • encryptionThe process of turning readable data into a scrambled form that only someone with the right key can turn back into its original form.
  • decryptTo turn encrypted data back into its original, readable form, normally by using the correct key.
  • encryption keyA secret value, usually a long string of bits, that an encryption algorithm uses to lock and unlock data. Without it, the encrypted data cannot be read.
  • hashA fixed-length value calculated from data by a one-way function. The same input always gives the same hash, but the original data cannot be rebuilt from it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Encryption and Cryptography

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