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Cryptography

Browse Cryptography terms for cybersecurity professionals.

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Accord de clé

A cryptographic protocol that enables two or more parties to establish a shared secret key over an insecure channel, commonly using protocols like Diffie-Hellman or ECDH.

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Algorithme de signature

A cryptographic algorithm used to generate and verify digital signatures, ensuring data authenticity and integrity, such as RSA, ECDSA, or EdDSA.

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Algorithme MAC

A cryptographic function that produces a short piece of information used to authenticate a message and provide integrity, such as HMAC or CMAC.

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Ancrage de certificat

A security technique that restricts which certificates are considered valid for a particular service or domain, by storing a hash of the expected certificate or public key in the client or application.

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Ancrage de chaîne

The process of ensuring that a certificate chain terminates at a trusted root certificate authority (trust anchor), as required in secure PKI implementations.

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Ancre de confiance

A trusted entity (typically a root certificate authority) whose public key is used as the ultimate basis for validating the digital signatures and certificates in a PKI.

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Appliance HSM

A dedicated hardware device designed to securely generate, manage, and store cryptographic keys, and perform cryptographic operations in compliance with security standards (e.g., FIPS 140-3).

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Assertion signée

A digital statement or claim, such as an authentication response or attribute, that is cryptographically signed to ensure authenticity and integrity.

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Attaque de cryptanalyse

A method of attacking cryptographic systems by analyzing the algorithms and ciphertexts to extract secret keys or plaintext without direct key compromise.

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Authentification mutuelle

A security process in which both entities in a communication verify each other's identities, typically using digital certificates or cryptographic mechanisms.

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Autorité de certification subordonnée

A Certificate Authority (CA) that is certified and authorized by a root or higher-level CA to issue digital certificates within a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

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Autorité de politique

An entity within a PKI or trust framework responsible for defining, governing, and maintaining security and operational policies for certificate authorities and relying parties.

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Autorité de validation

A trusted service or entity that provides real-time or historical status information about digital certificates, typically via OCSP or CRL protocols.

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Autorité Racine

The top-level Certificate Authority (CA) in a PKI hierarchy whose root certificate is self-signed and serves as the ultimate trust anchor for all certificates issued in the infrastructure.

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Basculement de certificat

The managed transition from an expiring or old certificate to a new certificate in a way that minimizes service interruption and maintains trust.

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Cadre de confiance

A formal structure of policies, roles, rules, and standards that define how trust is established, maintained, and evaluated in a digital ecosystem, particularly in PKI, identity, and federation systems.

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Canal sécurisé

A communication path protected by cryptographic means, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and authentication of data in transit.

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Certificat auto-signé

A digital certificate that is signed by the same entity whose identity it certifies, rather than by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA).

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Certificat d'AC

A digital certificate issued to a Certificate Authority, used to sign and validate other digital certificates within a PKI hierarchy.

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Certificat d'attribut

A digital certificate that binds attribute information (such as roles or permissions) to a subject, separate from the identity certificate, for use in access control.

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Certificat de périphérique

A digital certificate issued to a device (such as a server, router, or IoT component) to authenticate its identity within a secure network or PKI.

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Certificat racine

A self-signed digital certificate that identifies a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) at the apex of a certification chain, serving as a trust anchor for all subordinate certificates.

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Chaîne de certificats

An ordered sequence of certificates, from an end-entity certificate up to the root authority, each certifying the next in the path, establishing a trust relationship.

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Chemin de certification

An ordered sequence of certificates from the end-entity certificate to a trusted root certificate, used to establish trust in PKI validation processes.

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Chiffrement hybride

A cryptographic approach that combines asymmetric and symmetric encryption to leverage the advantages of both for secure key exchange and efficient data encryption.

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Chiffrement par bloc

A symmetric key encryption algorithm that encrypts data in fixed-size blocks, such as AES and 3DES.

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Clé de l'émetteur

The private key held by a Certificate Authority (CA) or issuer used to sign digital certificates and assert trust in a PKI environment.

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Clé de session

A temporary symmetric key used for a single communication session, providing confidentiality and integrity for exchanged data and discarded after the session ends.

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Clé du sujet

The cryptographic public key associated with the subject of a digital certificate, used to verify signatures or encrypt messages to the certificate holder.

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Clé privée

A confidential cryptographic key in an asymmetric key pair, used to sign or decrypt data, and must be kept secret to maintain security.

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Clé pré-partagée

A symmetric key distributed to and shared by parties before communication begins, commonly used in VPNs, Wi-Fi WPA2-PSK, and certain secure channel protocols.

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Clé publique

The openly distributed cryptographic key in an asymmetric key pair, used to verify digital signatures or encrypt data for the corresponding private key holder.

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Clé symétrique

A cryptographic key used in symmetric encryption where the same key is used for both encryption and decryption operations.

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Clé éphémère

A cryptographic key generated for temporary use in a single session or operation, after which it is discarded and not reused, ensuring forward secrecy in protocols like TLS and ECDH.

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Collision de hash

An event where two different inputs produce the same output hash value from a cryptographic hash function, undermining data integrity.

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Condensat de message

A fixed-length, unique output value generated by applying a cryptographic hash function to a message, used for verifying data integrity.

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Confirmation de clé

A cryptographic process where parties confirm to each other that they possess the same secret key, usually as a final step in key agreement protocols.

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Conformité cryptographique

Adherence to laws, regulations, and standards that govern cryptographic practices, algorithm usage, and key management, ensuring security, privacy, and auditability.

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Construction de chaîne

The process of assembling a complete, ordered set of certificates from an end-entity certificate up to a trusted root, verifying each link in the trust chain.

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Conteneur de clé

A logical or physical storage area used to hold cryptographic keys, often protected by access controls and used in software keystores or hardware security modules.

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Courbe elliptique

A type of algebraic curve used in public-key cryptography, providing strong security with smaller key sizes; the basis of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) standards.

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Demande de jeton

A formal operation in which a client requests an authentication or authorization token from an identity provider or security token service in PKI or OAuth2 contexts.

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Distribution CRL

The mechanism and locations for making Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) available to PKI participants to check the revocation status of certificates.

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Durée de vie de la clé

The maximum period that a cryptographic key is allowed to be active and used for cryptographic operations before mandatory expiration or replacement.

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Dérivation de clé

A cryptographic process for generating one or more secret keys from a shared secret or password using a deterministic function, as specified in NIST SP 800-108/132.

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Enrobage de clé

The process of encrypting one cryptographic key with another key to securely transport or store keys, typically used for key distribution or archival.

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Enveloppe numérique

A mechanism in cryptography where a message is encrypted with a symmetric key and the symmetric key is then encrypted with a recipient’s public key, ensuring confidentiality and key transport.

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Escrow de clé

A key management process in which cryptographic keys are held in escrow by a trusted third party, enabling recovery under defined conditions such as legal access.

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Extraction de clé

The process of obtaining a cryptographic key from a hardware or software source, typically for backup, migration, or forensic analysis, requiring strict security controls.

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Gestion des clés

The set of processes and mechanisms for generating, distributing, storing, using, rotating, archiving, and destroying cryptographic keys within a secure lifecycle, ensuring their confidentiality, integrity, and availability as specified by cryptography and PKI governance standards.

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Génération de nonce

The process of generating a unique, unpredictable, and usually random number (nonce) used once per cryptographic protocol operation to prevent replay attacks and ensure freshness.

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Horodatage

The process of recording the exact date and time that a digital document or transaction was created or signed, often with cryptographic proof provided by a Time Stamping Authority (TSA).

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Identifiant d'émetteur

A unique value or distinguished name that identifies the Certificate Authority (CA) or entity that issues a digital certificate within a PKI, per X.509 and RFC 5280 standards.

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Importation de clé

The process of securely bringing a cryptographic key into a software or hardware cryptographic module, typically in compliance with strict key handling and integrity procedures.

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Infrastructure PKI

A system of hardware, software, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates in a public key environment.

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Jeton matériel

A physical device, such as a USB or smart card, used to store cryptographic keys and perform authentication or signing operations, enhancing security by isolating credentials from general-purpose devices.

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Journalisation d'audit

The process of recording security-related events, operations, or accesses within a cryptographic or PKI environment to provide accountability, traceability, and forensics.

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Liaison de jeton

A security mechanism where cryptographic tokens are cryptographically bound to a TLS connection, ensuring that tokens cannot be replayed or used outside the original session.

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Magasin de confiance

A repository of trusted root and intermediate certificates used by applications and systems to verify the authenticity of digital certificates.

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Magasin racine

A trusted repository of root CA certificates used by operating systems and applications to validate the trustworthiness of digital certificates in PKI.

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Mappage de politique

The process in PKI where certificate policies from one CA are mapped to equivalent policies in another, allowing interoperability and trust across different domains.

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Modèle de certificat

A predefined configuration for certificate attributes and extensions, used by CAs to automate and standardize certificate issuance in enterprise PKI environments.

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Nom du sujet

The distinguished name (DN) in a digital certificate that uniquely identifies the certificate holder or entity, as specified in X.509 standards.

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OCSP stapling

A TLS extension that allows servers to send a time-stamped OCSP response for their certificate during handshake, improving performance and privacy in revocation checking.

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Oracle aléatoire

A theoretical black box model that responds to every unique query with a truly random response, used as an idealized component in proofs of cryptographic security.

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Paire de clés

A set of two mathematically linked cryptographic keys, typically consisting of a public key for encryption/verification and a private key for decryption/signing.

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Plateforme de confiance

A computing environment equipped with hardware and software components (e.g., TPM, secure boot) designed to ensure integrity, confidentiality, and authenticity of cryptographic operations and data.

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Politique de certificat

A set of rules and practices that indicates the applicability of a certificate to a particular community or class of applications with common security requirements.

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Politique de délivrance

A formal document or set of rules that defines the procedures and requirements for issuing digital certificates within a PKI.

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Politique de signature

A set of technical and procedural requirements governing the creation, validation, and management of digital signatures within a PKI or eIDAS framework.

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Processeur cryptographique

A hardware device or chip specifically designed to perform cryptographic operations such as encryption, decryption, signing, and key management, often used to enhance security and performance.

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Période de validité

The designated timeframe during which a cryptographic certificate or key is considered valid and trusted for use, after which it is expired or invalidated.

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Remplissage de signature

A method of formatting a message or hash before digital signature creation, used to prevent certain attacks and ensure compatibility with cryptographic algorithms such as RSA-PSS or PKCS#1 v1.5.

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Renouvellement de certificat

The process of issuing a new certificate for an entity before the expiration of the current certificate, maintaining continuity of trust without changing the subject's identity or keys.

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Reprise de session

A TLS or secure channel mechanism that enables clients and servers to reuse a previously negotiated session state for faster reconnection and reduced handshake overhead.

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Rotation de clé

The scheduled process of replacing cryptographic keys with new keys to limit the period a compromised key can be misused and to enhance long-term security in cryptographic systems.

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Récupération de clé

A controlled process for restoring lost or inaccessible cryptographic keys, typically from a secure backup or escrow, for continuity and compliance.

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Répondeur en ligne

A network service that provides real-time certificate status information, typically using the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) to validate if a certificate is revoked or still valid.

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Résistance quantique

The property of cryptographic algorithms to withstand attacks by quantum computers, typically achieved by using post-quantum cryptography schemes.

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Rétroaction de chiffrement

A block cipher mode of operation (CFB) that turns a block cipher into a self-synchronizing stream cipher, providing confidentiality by encrypting feedback blocks.

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Saisie du code PIN

The act of securely entering a personal identification number (PIN) into a trusted hardware or software interface for authentication or key release.

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Sauvegarde de clé

The secure process of creating a protected copy of a cryptographic key, enabling recovery if the original is lost or damaged, following strict policies and controls.

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Schéma de signature

A cryptographic algorithm for creating and verifying digital signatures, specifying mathematical processes and key structures, e.g., RSA-PSS, ECDSA.

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Secret de transmission

A cryptographic property ensuring that the compromise of long-term keys does not compromise past session keys, providing strong protection for historic data in protocols like TLS.

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Service d'inscription

A trusted PKI component that manages requests for digital certificates, validates identity, and issues or renews certificates for users and devices.

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Service de tokenisation

A security process or managed solution that replaces sensitive data elements with non-sensitive equivalents (tokens), often used to protect payment, personal, or healthcare information.

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Somme de contrôle de clé

A value derived from a cryptographic key using a checksum or hash algorithm, used to verify the integrity or correctness of the key material.

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Statut de révocation

The current validity state of a digital certificate, indicating whether it has been revoked by the issuing certificate authority (CA) and is no longer trusted.

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Statut de révocation

The current validity state of a digital certificate as determined by a recognized Certificate Authority (CA), typically indicating whether a certificate is active, revoked, or suspended per OCSP, CRL, or similar mechanisms.

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Statut en ligne

In cryptography/PKI, refers to the real-time validity of a digital certificate or credential as determined by protocols such as OCSP.

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Suite de chiffrement

A named set of cryptographic algorithms used to negotiate security settings in network protocols like TLS, including key exchange, bulk encryption, and message authentication algorithms.

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Ticket de session

A data structure issued by a server to a client in TLS to enable stateless session resumption by encapsulating keying material and session state, reducing handshake overhead.

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Usage de la clé

A certificate extension that defines the allowed cryptographic operations for the associated key, such as digital signature or key encipherment.

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Valeur de nonce

A randomly or pseudo-randomly generated number used only once in a cryptographic communication to prevent replay attacks and ensure uniqueness.

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Valeur de sel

A random value added to data, typically passwords, before hashing to ensure that identical inputs produce different hash outputs, preventing precomputed attack vectors such as rainbow tables.

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Validation de chaîne

The process of verifying each certificate in a chain from the end entity up to the root CA, ensuring all links are trusted and unbroken in PKI trust models.

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