# Cryptography definition

By [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0xa871f69ba2fa6979b755e9a6056ccfe36ba03f48) · 2023-07-27

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Cryptography is the art of keeping information secure by transforming it into form that unintended recipients cannot understand. In cryptography, an original human readable message, referred to as _plaintext,_ is changed by means of an _algorithm,_ or series of mathematical operations, into something that to an uninformed observer would look like gibberish; this gibberish is called _ciphertext_.

Cryptographic systems require some method for the intended recipient to be able to make use of the encrypted message—usually, though not always, by transforming the ciphertext back into plaintext. 

[https://opensea.io/assets/0x4302fb0540dD1224A4AF826A877Ba7FFc0Cd668c/2](https://opensea.io/assets/0x4302fb0540dD1224A4AF826A877Ba7FFc0Cd668c/2)

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*Originally published on [Untitled](https://paragraph.com/@0xa871f69ba2fa6979b755e9a6056ccfe36ba03f48/cryptography-definition)*