Encryption in Crypto: The Key to Security

Encryption is a method by which information can be turned into code.

What is Encryption?

Encryption is a method by which information can be turned into code that hides its true meaning. The technology to encrypt and decrypt information is known as cryptography. Usually in the world of computing, unencrypted data is called plaintext and encrypted data is called ciphertext.

Also encryption is the process of changing electronic information or signals into a secret code, which is a system of letters, numbers or symbols that people cannot understand or use without special equipment.

Encryption is a method of converting data so that only authorized individuals, or more specifically, only people with a certain set of credentials to view that information, can access it. Encryption essentially takes the previously mentioned plaintext and presents it as random data. This requires the use of a cryptographic key, which itself is a set of mathematical values that both the sender and the receiver of the encrypted message can agree upon.

For example, if you had open text that said "Cryptocurrency" and it was encrypted, the encrypted text might look like SHSF#R&#244243, making it impossible to understand. While the encryption data may seem random to you, in reality it is a logical, predictable way to allow the party that received the encrypted data and processed the right key to encrypt the data. As a result, it will become plaintext again for that particular party.

The most secure encryption method will use sufficiently complex keys so that third parties cannot decrypt or crack the ciphertext by brute force, or with a bot that might try to guess the key itself.

Often in the cryptocurrency world, encryption is used to protect your private key password.