Definitions
Algorithm: The set of mathematical rules used in encryption and decryption.
Cryptography: Science of secret writing that enables you to store and transmit data in a form that is available only to the intended individuals.
Cryptosystem: Hardware or software implementation of cryptography that transforms a message to cipher text and back to plain-text.
Cryptanalysis: Practice of obtaining plain-text from cipher-text without a key or breaking the encryption.
Cryptology: The study of both cryptography and cryptanalysis.
Cipher-text: Data in encrypted or unreadable format.
Encipher: Act of transforming data into an unreadable format.
Decipher: Act of transforming data into a readable format.
Key: Secret sequence of bits and instructions that governs the act of encryption and decryption.
Key clustering: Instance when two different keys generate the same cipher-text from the same plain-text.
Key-space: Possible values used to construct keys.
Plain-text: Data in readable format, also referred to as clear-text.
Work factor: Estimated time, effort, and resources necessary to break a cryptosystem.