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Encryption

nounverified·updated May 9, 2026

The process of transforming information to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing a special key (to decrypt).

AICPA Privacy Management Framework

Senses

SANS Glossary of Security Terms

Cryptographic transformation of data (called "plaintext") into a form (called "cipher text") that conceals the data's original meaning to prevent it from being known or used.

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) Cybersecurity Lexiconextended definition available

The process of transforming plaintext into ciphertext.

ISACA Cybersecurity Glossary

The process of taking an unencrypted message (plaintext), applying a mathematical function to it (encryption algorithm with a key) and producing an encrypted message (ciphertext)

NY DFS Part 500 (NYCRR Title 23, Chapter 1, Part 500)

The process of rendering plaintext unintelligible by converting it to ciphertext that can be read only by those with the knowledge to decode the plaintext from the ciphertext. (SAA: Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology).

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) IT Examination Handbook Infobase, Glossary

A data security technique used to protect information from unauthorized inspection or alteration. Information is encoded so that data appears as a meaningless string of letters and symbols during delivery or transmission. Upon receipt, the information is decoded using an encryption key.

NISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 2

Conversion of plaintext to ciphertext through the use of a cryptographic algorithm.

NISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 2sense 2 pending review

The process of changing plaintext into ciphertext for the purpose of security or privacy.

Wordset Dictionary

the activity of converting data or information into code

Classifications

Entity Type

Control92%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5
?unassignedlast reviewed

Sensitivity

unclassified

Information Class

unclassified

Variants

synonym
encipherencodeencodingencrypt
plural
Encryptions
possessive
Encryption's
pluralpossessive
Encryptions'