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Cryptographic Key

nounid 2097·updated May 9, 2026
verified

A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines - the transformation of plaintext data into ciphertext data, - the transformation of ciphertext data into plaintext data, - a digital signature computed from data, - the verification of a digital signature computed from data, - an authentication code computed from data, or - an exchange agreement of a shared secret.

polysemousMWE

Attested in

NIST SP 800-171 Rev 3 - Protecting CUI in Nonfederal Systems6 citations · 6 machine-matched · observed 2026-09-01 under anchor/0.9/36451/2026-09-01
03.01.05.d ¶ 103.01.07.b ¶ 103.08.09.b ¶ 103.13.1003.13.10 ¶ 103.13.10 ¶ 2

Classifications

Entity Type

Credential90%rule-basedr:entity.credential.cert.v1

Sensitivity

unclassified

Information Class

unclassified

Variants

plural
Cryptographic Keys
possessive
Cryptographic Key's
pluralpossessive
Cryptographic Keys'

Framework definitions

NISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 24 sensesview framework →
§1
A value used to control cryptographic operations, such as decryption, encryption, signature generation, or signature verification.
§2 · sense_2_pending_review
S A binary string used as a secret parameter by a cryptographic algorithm. OURCE: SP 800-108
§3 · sense_3_pending_review
A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines the specific operation of that algorithm.
§4 · sense_4_pending_review
A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines - the transformation of plaintext data into ciphertext data, - the transformation of ciphertext data into plaintext data, - a digital signature computed from data, - the verification of a digital signature computed from data, - an authentication code computed from data, or - an exchange agreement of a shared secret.
NIST SP 800-631 senseview framework →
§1
A value used to control cryptographic operations, such as decryption, encryption, signature generation, or signature verification.
FIPS PUB 140-21 senseview framework →
§1
A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines - the transformation of plaintext data into ciphertext data, - the transformation of ciphertext data into plaintext data, - a digital signature computed from data, - the verification of a digital signature computed from data, - an authentication code computed from data, or - an exchange agreement of a shared secret.
FIPS PUB 2011 senseview framework →
§1
A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines the specific operation of that algorithm.
FIPS PUB 1981 senseview framework →
§1
A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines the specific operation of that algorithm.
NIST SP 800-171r31 senseview framework →
§1 · attested_usage_pack_match
No definition is given in NIST SP 800-171r3. The term is attested in use at 6 citations in that document; a definition is pending curation.
Increment 2: attested in 800-171r3 without a glossary definition.
Legacy lexicon import1 senseview framework →
§1 · legacy_primary
A parameter used in conjunction with a cryptographic algorithm that determines - the transformation of plaintext data into ciphertext data, - the transformation of ciphertext data into plaintext data, - a digital signature computed from data, - the verification of a digital signature computed from data, - an authentication code computed from data, or - an exchange agreement of a shared secret.
DR-088 backfill from the noun definition column

Outgoing relationships

No outgoing triples
This term is not the subject of any RDF-style relationship yet.

Incoming relationships

No incoming triples
No other term currently asserts a relationship to this one.