TLS/SSL Terminology and Acronyms

Table 1: TLS/SSL Terminology provides definitions of TLS/SSL terminology:

Table 1: TLS/SSL Terminology

Term

Definition

Plaintext

The original, unencrypted data.

Ciphertext

The encrypted data.

Cryptography

The practice of secure communications.

Encryption

The process of turning plaintext into ciphertext.

Decryption

The process of turning ciphertext into plaintext.

Encryption algorithm

The algorithm used to perform encryption and decryption. It is also called the cipher.

Encryption key

The key used for encryption.

Decryption key

The key used for decryption.

Symmetrical encryption algorithm

The algorithm used for encryption in which the encryption key and the decryption key are identical.

Asymmetrical encryption algorithm

The algorithm used for encryption in which the encryption key and the decryption key are different.

Public key

The key used for encryption.

Private key

The key used for decryption.

Table 2: TLS/SSL Acronyms lists TLS/SSL acronyms:

Table 2: TLS/SSL Acronyms

Acronym

Definition

AES

Advanced Encryption Standard

CA

Certificate Authority

CBC

Cipher Block Chaining

CN

Common Name

CRL

Certificate Revocation List

DES

Data Encryption Standard

DH, D-H

Diffie-Hellman

DSA

Digital Signature Algorithm

ECDH

Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman

ECDSA

Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm

FQDN

Fully Qualified Domain Name

IDS

Intrusion Detection System

IPS

Intrusion Prevention System

MAC

Message Authentication Code

MD

Message Digest

MitM

Man-in-the-Middle

OCSP

Online Certificate Status Protocol

OoB

Out-of-Band

PEM

Privacy Enhanced Mail

PFS

Perfect Forward Secrecy

PKCS12

Public Key Cryptography Standard #12

PKI

Public Key Infrastructure

RSA

Rivest-Shamir-Adleman

SHA

Secure Hash Algorithm

SSL

Secure Sockets Layer

TCP

Transmission Control Protocol

TLS

Transport Layer Security

URL

Uniform Resource Locator