Dictionary · NIST SP 800-21
L2 — definitions grouped by regulatory framework.
Nouns
13 senses- Authentication
A process that establishes the origin of information or determines an entity’s identity.
- Binding
An acknowledgement by a trusted third party that associates an entity’s identity with its public key. This may take place through (1) a certification authority’s generation of a public key certificate, (2) a security officer’s verification of an entity’s credentials and placement of the entity’s public key and identifier in a secure database, or (3) an analogous method.
- Certificate
A set of data that uniquely identifies an entity, contains the entity’s public key and possibly other information, and is digitally signed by a trusted party, thereby binding the public key to the entity. Additional information in the certificate could specify how the key is used and its cryptoperiod.
- Certification authority
The entity in a public key infrastructure (PKI) that is responsible for issuing certificates and exacting compliance to a PKI policy.
- Certificate revocation list
A list of revoked but un-expired certificates issued by a CA.
- Ciphertext/Cipher Text
Data in its encrypted form.
- cryptographic algorithm
A well-defined computational procedure that takes variable inputs, including a cryptographic key, and produces an output.
- Cryptographic Hash Function
A function that maps a bit string of arbitrary length to a fixed length bit string. Approved hash functions satisfy the following properties: 1) (One-way) It is computationally infeasible to find any input which maps to any pre-specified output, and 2) (Collision resistant) It is computationally infeasible to find any two distinct inputs that map to the same output.
- Cryptography
The discipline that embodies principles, means, and methods for providing information security, including confidentiality, data integrity, non-repudiation, and authenticity.
- Decryption
The process of changing ciphertext into plaintext using a cryptographic algorithm and key.
- Encryption
The process of changing plaintext into ciphertext for the purpose of security or privacy.
- key pair
A public key and its corresponding private key; a key pair is used with a public key algorithm.
- plaintext
Intelligible data that has meaning and can be understood without the application of decryption.