what is the act of converting cyphertext back into plaintext known as
The act of converting ciphertext back into plaintext is known as decryption.
The act of converting ciphertext back into plaintext is known as decryption. Decryption is the process of reversing the encryption process to recover the original message or data. This is achieved by applying the reverse mathematical transformations or algorithms used during the encryption process.
The act of converting ciphertext back into plaintext is known as decryption. It is a process that reverses the encryption process to reveal the original message or information.
To decrypt ciphertext, you typically need a decryption algorithm or key that was used to encrypt the plaintext in the first place. The key contains the necessary information to reverse the encryption and recover the original message.
There are different encryption and decryption algorithms, such as symmetric and asymmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption uses the same key for both encryption and decryption, while asymmetric encryption uses a pair of keys - a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.
To decrypt a message using symmetric encryption, you need to possess the secret key used by the sender. You apply the same algorithm, but instead of converting plaintext to ciphertext, you convert ciphertext back into plaintext.
For asymmetric encryption, the recipient of the ciphertext needs the corresponding private key to decrypt the message. The private key is kept secret by the recipient, while the public key is freely available for anyone to use for encrypting messages.
In summary, the act of converting ciphertext back into plaintext is called decryption, and it requires a decryption algorithm or key, depending on the encryption method used.