encryption

n : the activity of converting from plain text into code [syn: {encoding}]

encryption

Any procedure used in {cryptography}

to convert {plaintext} into {ciphertext} in order to prevent

any but the intended recipient from reading that data.

There are many types of data encryption, and they are the

basis of network security. Common types include {Data

Encryption Standard} and {public-key encryption}.

The {Unix} command {crypt} performs encryption.

{(http://eff.org/)}

(1995-05-02)