Encryption is the conversion of data into a secret code for transmission over a public network data so that it becomes difficult to interpret. In Encryption, plaintext is converted into a coded equivalent called ciphertext via an Encryption algorithm. The ciphertext is decoded at the receiving end and turned back into plaintext. The Encryption algorithm uses a key, which is a binary number typically from 40-128 bits in length. The data is locked for sending by combining the bits in the key mathematically with the data bits. At the receiving end, the key is use to unlock the code, restoring it to its original binary form. Encryption has been used to protect information throughout history, but until the age of computers, only organizations and individuals with exceptional need for secrecy used it. In the mid-1970s, strong Encryption emerged from the shadows of secretive government agencies and into the public domain. Encryption now protects widely-used systems, such as Internet e-commerce, mobile telephone networks and bank ATMs. |