What is produced when plaintext is transformed by encryption using a key?

What is produced when plaintext is transformed by encryption using a key?

• A. Ciphertext
• B. Plaintext
• C. Hash
• D. Salt

Answer: (A)

Encrypting plaintext with a key turns readable data into ciphertext—the unreadable form that can only be made readable again by decrypting with the correct key. This keeps the message confidential as it travels or is stored, since interceptors can’t understand it without the key. A hash, by contrast, is a one-way digest that cannot be reversed to recover the original message, and a salt is something added to data when hashing to make certain attacks harder; they are not the encrypted output. Plaintext is simply the original, readable data. So, the result of transforming plaintext by encryption using a key is ciphertext.

Encrypting plaintext with a key turns readable data into ciphertext—the unreadable form that can only be made readable again by decrypting with the correct key. This keeps the message confidential as it travels or is stored, since interceptors can’t understand it without the key. A hash, by contrast, is a one-way digest that cannot be reversed to recover the original message, and a salt is something added to data when hashing to make certain attacks harder; they are not the encrypted output. Plaintext is simply the original, readable data. So, the result of transforming plaintext by encryption using a key is ciphertext.