Data encryption is a process for translating data from plaintext (unencrypted) which a human can read and understand to ciphertext (encrypted) which appears scrambled and unintelligible to a human.
Data is encrypted using an encryption algorithm and secret key. It can only be read by someone who has the correct decryption key.
There are several types of encryption, including symmetric-key encryption and asymmetric-key encryption. In symmetric-key encryption, the same key is used for both encryption and decryption. In asymmetric-key encryption, also known as public-key encryption, two different keys are used: a public key for encryption and a private key for decryption.
