Encryption (definition)

Encryption is a way of scrambling data, to prevent anyone who intercepts the data from learning what that data means. Encrpyted data appears to be meaningless and random. But the original data can be retrieved by reversing the encryption process, a step called decryption.

Most encryption today requires two large numbers, known as keys. One key is used by a sender to encrypt the data, while the other is used by a recipient for decryption. 

As long as the keys are key secret (known only to the sender or recipient), are large enough not to be guessed easily, encrypted data is secure from most unauthorized attempts to decrypt it.  However, no encryption technique is perfectly safe. With enough computing power, and enough time, most encrypted data can be "stolen". Fortunately, the power and time required is considerable, and usually worth more than the data that would be compromised.

See Also: Decryption