Plaintext is the message that has to be transmitted to the recipient. It is also commonly referred to as cleartext.
Ciphertext is the output that is generated after encrypting the plaintext.
Encryption is the process of changing the content of a plaintext in such a manner that it hides the actual message.
Decryption is the reverse of encryption; it is the process of retrieving the plaintext message from its encrypted form (ciphertext). This process converts ciphertext to plaintext.
Key is a word, number, or string that is used to encrypt the plaintext or to decrypt the ciphertext.
Cryptanalysis is the science of breaking codes and ciphers.
Hash algorithm is an algorithm that converts a text string of arbitrary length into a string of fixed length.
Cipher is a cryptographic algorithm, i.e. a mathematical function used for encryption and decryption.
Decipher converts enciphered text to the equivalent plain text by means of a cipher system.
Key Management - Process by which key is generated, stored, protected, transferred, loaded, used, and destroyed.