Glossary of Security Terms: Symmetric-Key Cryptography

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Symmetric-key cryptography is a term used for cryptographic algorithms that use the same key for encryption and for decryption. The key is usually called a "symmetric key" or a "secret key" This is usually contrasted with public-key key cryptography, in which keys are generated in pairs and the transformation made by one key can only be reversed using the other key. Block ciphers are always used with a mode, which specifies how to securely encrypt messages that are longer than the block size.