Image: Wikimedia Commons

ciphertext

Encrypted information

Also known as cyphertext · encrypted data · encrypted information · encrypted message

Instance of: cryptologic term
Subclass of: data
Part of: cleartext and ciphertext

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In cryptography, ciphertext or cyphertext is the result of encryption performed on plaintext using an algorithm, called a cipher. Ciphertext is also known as encrypted or encoded information because it contains a form of the original plaintext that is unreadable by a human or computer without the proper cipher to decrypt it. This process prevents the loss of sensitive information via hacking. Decryption, the inverse of encryption, is the process of turning ciphertext into readable plaintext. Ciphertext is not to be confused with codetext, because the latter is a result of a code, not a cipher.

Overview

All data

20 statements · 20% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Opposite of: plaintext
1
Sources
1.digitalguardian.com/blog/what-data-encryptionRetrieved 2018-07-05
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Different from: Szyfrogram
Fabrication method: encryption
Does not have characteristic: human-readable

On other databases

10 identifiers linking ciphertext across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

20%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 28, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). ciphertext (Q1589480). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/ciphertext-Q1589480