A cipher is a technique of remodeling plaintext (readable textual content) into ciphertext (encoded textual content) utilizing an algorithm (algorithm). Ciphers are used for encryption, the method of changing plaintext into ciphertext, and decryption, the method of changing ciphertext again into plaintext.
Ciphers have been used for hundreds of years to guard delicate data from unauthorized entry. A number of the most well-known ciphers embody the Caesar cipher, the Enigma machine, and the Information Encryption Commonplace (DES). Fashionable ciphers are sometimes carried out utilizing computer systems and are far more complicated than their historic counterparts. Nonetheless, the essential ideas of cipher design stay the identical.