cryptanalysis

nouncandidate·updated May 12, 2026

GlossaryL1 — what DictionaryL2 — how used ThesaurusL3 — relations Universaleverything

1) Operations performed in defeating cryptographic protection without an initial knowledge of the key employed in providing the protection. 2) The study of mathematical techniques for attempting to defeat cryptographic techniques and information system security. This includes the process of looking for errors or weaknesses in the implementation of an algorithm or of the algorithm itself.

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

Senses

3 more senses beyond the canonical

SANS Glossary of Security Terms

The mathematical science that deals with analysis of a cryptographic system in order to gain knowledge needed to break or circumvent the protection that the system is designed to provide. In other words, convert the cipher text to plaintext without knowing the key.

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

The operations performed in defeating or circumventing cryptographic protection of information by applying mathematical techniques and without an initial knowledge of the key employed in providing the protection.

Wordset Dictionary

the science of analyzing and deciphering codes and ciphers and cryptograms

Classifications

per-axis with provenance

Entity Type

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Sensitivity

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Information Class

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Variants

5 surface forms

synonym: cryptography
alternatephrasing: Cryptanalysis
plural: cryptanalysises
possessive: cryptanalysis's
pluralpossessive: cryptanalysises'

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