symmetric cryptography

nounverified·updated May 9, 2026

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A branch of cryptography in which a cryptographic system or algorithms use the same secret key (a shared secret key).

MWENational Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) Cybersecurity Lexicon

Senses

1 more sense beyond the canonical

SANS Glossary of Security Terms

A branch of cryptography involving algorithms that use the same key for two different steps of the algorithm (such as encryption and decryption, or signature creation and signature verification). Symmetric cryptography is sometimes called "secret-key cryptography" (versus public-key cryptography) because the entities that share the key.

Classifications

per-axis with provenance

Entity Type

Capability85%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

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Sensitivity

—60%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

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Information Class

—70%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

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Variants

3 surface forms

plural: symmetric cryptographies
possessive: symmetric cryptography's
pluralpossessive: symmetric cryptographies'

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