The term "cipher" can refer to different things depending on the context, primarily in the fields of cryptography and mathematics. Here are the main interpretations: 1. **Cryptography**: In cryptography, a cipher is an algorithm used for encryption or decryption. It transforms readable data (plaintext) into an unreadable format (ciphertext) to protect the information from unauthorized access.
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A cipher is a pair of keyed algorithms that maps a plaintext to a ciphertext and recovers the plaintext from the ciphertext when supplied with the appropriate key.