Used for:

• Data encoding (Computer Science)
• Encryption of data (Computer Science)
• Digital cryptography
• Digital data encryption
• Digital encryption
• Encryption of data

Narrower term:

• Check digit schemes
• Digital signatures
• Image steganography
• Encryption protocols
• Image encryption
• Message authentication codes
• Public key cryptography

Broader term:

• Computer security

Related Term:

• Cryptography
• Computer network security
• Computer security software

Data Encryption

In the computing world, encryption is the conversion of data from a readable format into an encoded format that can only be read or processed after it's been decrypted.

Encryption is the basic building block of data security and is the simplest and most important way to ensure a computer system's information can't be stolen and read by someone who wants to use it for nefarious means.

Utilized by both individual users and large corporations, encryption is widely used on the internet to ensure the sanctity of user information that's sent between a browser and a server.

Definition retrieved from Kaspersky, 2020: https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/encryption

Here are entered works on methods of compressing or encoding data for transport between computers or computer systems. Use only if a narrower term does not apply (e.g., "Digital signatures"). For works on the science of obscuring communications using an encryption method which allows the information to be decoded only by those who know the key, use "Cryptography." [EPC]