Davos has been reading about encryption recently. He begins to wonder how anything can be secure if everyone is using the same set of algorithms. After all, anyone using the same algorithm would be able to decrypt anything that had been encrypted using that algorithm. Which of the following helps make the data unusable by anyone else using that same encryption scheme without having this information?
A) Algorithm
B) Cipher
C) Key
D) Block

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The key is what makes the data encrypted with a particular algorithm secure and unusable by anyone else without having the key. Even though the algorithm is known and can be used by anyone, the key is what differentiates one user's encrypted data from another's. It's the secret component that is needed to decrypt the data.

Davos Has Been Reading About Encryption Recently