Okuzeka
Cybersecurity vocabulary · Encryption and Cryptography

Encryption

Meaning in cybersecurity, with examples

/ɪnˈkrɪpʃən/nounCore term

In cybersecurity, encryption means: The process of turning readable data into a scrambled form that only someone with the right key can turn back into its original form.

In Turkish: şifreleme, kriptolama

How it is used

Used for data in two states: 'encryption at rest' protects stored data and 'encryption in transit' protects data moving across a network. You encrypt data, enable encryption and use strong encryption. Auditors often ask which algorithm and key length a system uses.

Example sentences

  1. All customer data is protected with encryption at rest and in transit.

  2. The laptop was stolen, but full-disk encryption was enabled, so the data is safe.

Common collocations

  • encryption at rest
  • encryption in transit
  • full-disk encryption
  • strong encryption
  • enable encryption
  • 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.
  • ciphertextData after it has been encrypted, which looks like random characters and cannot be understood without the correct key. The readable original is called plaintext.
  • end-to-end encryptionEncryption in which only the sender and the intended recipient can read the messages, so even the service provider in the middle cannot see their content.
  • 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

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: