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Ciphers are usually parameterized by a piece of auxiliary information, called a key. The encrypting procedure is varied depending on the key which changes the detailed operation of the algorithm. Without the key, the cipher cannot be used to encrypt or decrypt.

Ciphers versus codes

Main article: Code (cryptography)

In non-technical usage, a "(secret) code" is the same thing as a cipher. Within technical discussions, however, they are distinguished into two concepts. Codes work at the level of meaning — that is, words or phrases are converted into something else. Ciphers, on the other hand, work at a lower level: the level of individual letters, small groups of letters, or, in modern schemes, individual bits. Some systems used both codes and ciphers in one system, using superencipherment to increase the security.

Historically, cryptography was split into a dichotomy of codes and ciphers, and coding had its own terminology, analogous to that for ciphers: "encoding, codetext, decoding" and so on. However, codes have a variety of drawbacks, including susceptibility to cryptanalysis and the difficulty of managing a cumbersome codebook. Because of this, codes have fallen into disuse in modern cryptography, and ciphers are the dominant technique.

Types of cipher

There are a variety of different types of encryption. Algorithms used earlier in the history of cryptography are substantially different from modern methods, and modern ciphers can be classified according to how they operate and whether they use one or two keys.

Historical pen and paper ciphers used in the past are sometimes known as classical ciphers. They include substitution ciphers and transposition ciphers. During the early 20th century, more sophisticated machines for encryption were used, rotor machines, which were more complex than previous schemes.

Encryption methods can be divided into symmetric key algorithms and asymmetric key algorithms. In a symmetric key algorithm (e.g., DES and AES), the sender and receiver must have a shared key set up in advance and kept secret from all other parties; the sender uses this key for encryption, and the receiver uses the same key for decryption. In an asymmetric key algorithm (e.g., RSA), there are two separate keys: a public key is published and enables any sender to perform encryption, while a private key is kept secret by the receiver and enables him to perform decryption.

Symmetric key ciphers can be distinguished into two types, depending on whether they work on blocks of symbols usually of a fixed size (block ciphers), or on a continuous stream of symbols (stream ciphers).

See also

• Famous ciphertexts
• ID-based cryptography

External links

• Encryption Algorithms