The short value, similar to a password, that is one of two arguments to an encryption program The other argument is a message that is to be encrypted The key is used to scramble the data in such a way that the only way to recover the message is to use the same encryption key to decrypt the data The key is not stored as part of the message, so losing the key makes the data useless This is a very secure way to send data, although it is wise to remember that any key can eventually be discovered, although it might be very difficult to do so
An encryption key is an alphanumeric (letters and/or numbers) series that enables data to be encrypted and then decrypted so it can be safely shared among members of a network WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) uses an encryption key that automatically encrypts outgoing wireless data On the receiving side, the same encryption key enables the computer to automatically decrypt the information so it can be read
A private key used for encryption only An encryption key and its equivalent public key, plus a signing key and its equivalent public key, constitute a dual key pairs
Each Passport participant site is issued a unique encryption key, which is also known by all trusted system servers (for example, the Login and Update servers) The sites and servers use this key to securely exchange Passport single sign-in Ticket and Profile information about users At initial setup, a test encryption key is installed This test key enables verification of the installation and lets Passport participants begin developing their own Passport sites before they have a unique encryption key and Site ID
A secret value shared between two parties that enables them to communicate securely by using the key to encrypt and decrypt messages Some servers store encryption keys in a keytab file See also keytab file, password
When used in the context of encryption, a series of numbers which are used by an encryption algorithm to transform plaintext data into encrypted (ciphertext) data, and vice versa
Each participating site is issued a unique encryption key, which is also known by all trusted system servers (for example, the Login and Update servers) The sites and servers use this key to exchange encrypted NET Passport single sign-in Ticket and Profile information