Main TERM C <\/p>\n
By Vangie Beal <\/p>\n
The art of protecting information by transforming it (encrypting it) into an unreadable format, called cipher text. Only those who possess a secret key can decipher (or decrypt) the message into plain text. Encrypted messages can sometimes be broken by cryptanalysis, also called codebreaking, although modern cryptography techniques are virtually unbreakable.<\/p>\n
As the Internet and other forms of electronic communication become more prevalent, electronic security is becoming increasingly important. Cryptography is used to protect e-mail messages, credit card information, and corporate data. One of the most popular cryptography systems used on the Internet is Pretty Good Privacybecause it's effective and free.<\/p>\n
Cryptography systems can be broadly classified into symmetric-key systems that use a single key that both the sender and recipient have, and public-keysystems that use two keys, a public key known to everyone and a private key that only the recipient of messages uses.<\/p>\n
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