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secret key

nounid 3996·updated May 9, 2026
verified

A cryptographic key that is used with a secret-key (symmetric) cryptographic algorithm that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and is not made public. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure.

polysemousMWE

Attested in

No recorded attestations. They are written when an MWE tagging stage is completed, stamped with the pack version and the document’s digest.

Classifications

Entity Type

Credential95%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Sensitivity

Restricted90%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Information Class

Cui75%llm-generatedllm:claude-haiku-4-5

Variants

plural
secret keys
possessive
secret key's
pluralpossessive
secret keys'

Framework definitions

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS) Cybersecurity Lexicon1 senseview framework →
§1 · extended_definition_available
A cryptographic key that is used for both encryption and decryption, enabling the operation of a symmetric key cryptography scheme.
NISTIR 7298: Glossary of Key Information Security Terms, Revision 24 sensesview framework →
§1
A cryptographic key that is used with a secret-key (symmetric) cryptographic algorithm that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and is not made public. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure.
§2 · sense_2_pending_review
A cryptographic key that must be protected from unauthorized disclosure to protect data encrypted with the key. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level; rather, the term implies the need to protect the key from disclosure or substitution.
§3 · sense_3_pending_review
A cryptographic key that is uniquely associated with one or more entities. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure or substitution.
§4 · sense_4_pending_review
A cryptographic key, used with a secret key cryptographic algorithm, that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and should not be made public.
CNSSI-4009 (Glossary of Information Assurance Terms)1 senseview framework →
§1
A cryptographic key that is used with a symmetric cryptographic algorithm that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and is not made public. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure.
FIPS PUB 140-21 senseview framework →
§1
A cryptographic key, used with a secret key cryptographic algorithm, that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and should not be made public.
FIPS PUB 2011 senseview framework →
§1
A cryptographic key that must be protected from unauthorized disclosure to protect data encrypted with the key. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level; rather, the term implies the need to protect the key from disclosure or substitution.
NIST SP 800-57 Part 11 senseview framework →
§1
A cryptographic key that is used with a secret-key (symmetric) cryptographic algorithm that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and is not made public. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure.
FIPS PUB 1981 senseview framework →
§1
A cryptographic key that is uniquely associated with one or more entities. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure or substitution.
Legacy lexicon import1 senseview framework →
§1 · legacy_primary
A cryptographic key that is used with a secret-key (symmetric) cryptographic algorithm that is uniquely associated with one or more entities and is not made public. The use of the term “secret” in this context does not imply a classification level, but rather implies the need to protect the key from disclosure.
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

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