A block cipher is a symmetric encryption algorithm that encrypts arbitrary length input stream of plain text, by subdividing it into fixed size blocks and using an encryption key to produce output blocks of ciphertext.
What is it?
A block cipher is a symmetric encryption algorithm that encrypts arbitrary length input stream of plain text, by subdividing it into fixed size blocks and using an encryption key to produce output blocks of ciphertext.
How does it work?
Symmetric encryption algorithm are subdivided in block ciphers and stream ciphers. Block ciphers encrypt fixed blocks of plaintext bits. Stream ciphers encrypt each plain text digit one by one.
As a block cipher works block by block, it cannot produce a real-time stream and either works off-line or works by caching data, so that there is some lags when blocks can only be completed with delays.
See also
- Block cipher on Wikipedia
