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Cryptography and Communications Privacy: An Introduction

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Synonyms

Cryptology

Glossary

The definitions below follow the glossary in RFC 4949 (IETF 2007b) unless marked with (*):

Algorithm:

A finite set of step-by-step instructions for a problem-solving or computation procedure, especially one that can be implemented by a computer.

Cipher text or ciphertext:

Data that has been transformed by encryption so that its semantic information content (i.e., its meaning) is no longer intelligible or directly available.

Cipher:

A cryptographic algorithm for encryption and decryption.

Code:

An encryption algorithm based on substitution, i.e., a system for providing data confidentiality by using arbitrary groups (called “code groups”) of letters, numbers, or symbols to represent units of plaintext of varying length (i.e., code words cause substitutions of important terms such as Mr. President with Ms. Bloomfield).

Cryptanalysis:

The mathematical science that deals with analysis of a cryptographic system to gain knowledge needed to break or circumvent the...

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Leonor Mendoza for her support, insightful comments, and patient assistance. Juan L. Moreno also thanks James Parish, from the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London, for his thorough review of the first draft of the paper.

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Correspondence to Gerard Vidal .

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Vidal, G., Moreno, J.L. (2017). Cryptography and Communications Privacy: An Introduction. In: Alhajj, R., Rokne, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Social Network Analysis and Mining. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7163-9_110179-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7163-9_110179-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7163-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7163-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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