Abstract: Basic notions. Cryptography is the study of methods of sending messages in disguised form so that only the intended recipients can remove the disguise and read the message. The message we want to send is called the plaintext and the disguised message is called the ciphertext. The plaintext and ciphertext are written in some alphabet (usually, but not always, they are written in the same alphabet) consisting of a certain number N of letters. The term “letter” (or “character”) can refer not only to the familiar A–Z, but also to numerals, blanks, punctuation marks, or any other symbols that we allow ourselves to use when writing the messages. (If we don’t include a blank, for example, then all of the words are run together, and the messages are harder to read.) The process of converting a plaintext to a ciphertext is called enciphering or encryption‚ and the reverse process is called deciphering.
Publication Year: 1987
Publication Date: 1987-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
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