2.1.1-4 vocab APCSP

cryptography - The science and art of delivering a message securely and confidentially. 

encryption - The process of encoding data to prevent unauthorized access, such as converting plaintext to ciphertext.

decrypt - The process of decoding the data, the reverse of the encryption process, making the data human-readable again.

substitution cypher - A cipher in which each letter in an alphabet is replaced with a different character or symbol.

key - A string of characters used as a parameter that determines the output of an encryption algorithm.

brute force - A method for determining a solution to a problem by sequentially testing all possible solutions.

private key encryption - An encryption method where the sender and receiver share a private key (such as a number, word, or phrase) to use in the encryption algorithm.

symmetric key - Also called shared key encryption, a process in which a single key is used in both the encryption and decryption algorithm to encode/decode data.

public key encryption - A method of paired key encryption in which the key used to encrypt data is made available to anybody and its corresponding decryption key is kept secret.

paired keys - Two keys that are related in such a way that one can be used to encrypt data, which can then only be decrypted by the other key.

symmetric encryption - 

RSA algorithm - An example of public key encryption developed by Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman, the founders of RSA, an American computer and network security company.

SSL certificate - A digital document used to verify the authenticity of a server or public key.

authenticates - Confirm your identity using knowledge known only to you or information interpreted by you (also known as multifactor authentication).

certificate authority - A business or organization that issues a digital certificate verifying that a given public key is owned by the entity named on the certificate.

personal identifiable information (PII) - Information about an individual, such as social security number, age, race, phone number(s), medical information, financial information, and biometric data such as fingerprint records and retina scans. 


data breach - The unauthorized access or retrieval of confidential or otherwise protected data. 


cookies - Small text-based bits of information about your browser that a web server saves.


phishing - Practice of sending fraudulent emails that appear to be from legitimate companies with the intent to induce people to share sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.


malware - Software intended to damage a computing system or to take partial control over its operation.


keylogger - The use of a program to record every keystroke made by a computer user in order to gain fraudulent access to passwords and other confidential information.


rogue access point - A wireless access point that gives unauthorized access to secure networks.  

system administrators - A person who is responsible for managing computers, networks, servers, and other computing resources for an organization or group.

brute force attack - An attempt to discover information, especially passwords, through trial and error. Attackers try as many passwords or phrases as possible, hoping one of the guesses is correct.

authorization - To give permission, for example, to access information.

authentication - Confirm your identity using knowledge known only to you or information interpreted by you (also known as multifactor authentication).

multi-factor authentication -A method of computer access control in which a user is only granted access after successfully presenting several separate pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism, typically in at least two of the following categories: knowledge (something they know); possession (something they have), and inherence (something they are).

GUI - Currently the dominant method for designing human-computer interaction.

API - A way programmers share their code with other programmers. In object-oriented libraries, an API specifies the methods of each class.

widgets - A standard component of a graphical user interface (GUI).

arguments - An input value to a command that specifies the values of the parameters when a procedure is called.