o ciphertext so that it can be read only by those who know the cipher to unscramble the message. [Computer and Information Sciences] n., The mechanism of coding data transmitted by various telecommunications systems so that only authorized users may have
access to it. [Computer and Information Sciences] 
n., Any procedure used in cryptography to convert plaintext into ciphertext (encrypted message) in order to prevent
 any but the
intended recipient from reading that data. [Computer and Information Sciences