Data Encryption

ALSO CALLED: File Encryption, Electronic Security, Database Encryption, Data-encryption, Data Encription, Data Base Encryption, Encryption, and Encryption Security
DEFINITION: Encryption is the conversion of datainto a form, called a ciphertext, that cannot be easilyunderstood by unauthorized people. Decryption is theprocess of converting encrypted data back into its original form,so it can be understood.

The use of encryption/decryption is as old  … 
Definition continues below.

DATA ENCRYPTION DEFINITION (continued): …  as theart of communication. In wartime, a cipher, often incorrectlycalled a "code," can be employed to keep the enemy fromobtaining the contents of transmissions. (Technically, a codeis a means of representing a signal without the intent of keepingit secret; examples are Morse code and ASCII.) Simple ciphersinclude the substitution of letters for numbers, the rotation ofletters in the alphabet, and the "scrambling" of voicesignals by inverting the sideband … 
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