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Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

Decrypt

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/diːˈkrɪpt/verbCore term

In software engineering, decrypt means: To turn encrypted data back into its original, readable form, normally by using the correct key.

In Turkish: şifresini çözmek, deşifre etmek

How it is used

The opposite of encrypt; the noun is decryption. Common in ransomware cases (a decryptor tool or decryption key), in TLS inspection, where a firewall decrypts traffic to check it, and in key management discussions.

Example sentences

  1. Without the private key, nobody can decrypt these files.

  2. The proxy decrypts outbound traffic so that the DLP tool can inspect it.

Common collocations

  • decrypt data
  • decrypt traffic
  • decryption key
  • free decryptor
  • encryptionTurning data into an unreadable form that can only be turned back with the right key, so that people without the key cannot read it.
  • 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.
  • ransomwareMalware that encrypts a victim's files or systems and demands a payment, usually in cryptocurrency, in exchange for the key to unlock them.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

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