Block cipher mode of operation

Rare card · No. 57659

In cryptography, a block cipher mode of operation is an algorithm that uses a block cipher to provide information security such as confidentiality or authenticity. A block cipher by itself is only suitable for the secure cryptographic transformation (encryption or decryption) of one fixed-length group of bits called a block. A mode of operation describes how to repeatedly apply a cipher's single-block operation to securely transform amounts of data larger than a block. Most modes require a unique binary sequence, often called an initialization vector (IV), for each encryption operation. The IV must be non-repeating, and for some modes must also be random. The initialization vector is used to ensure that distinct ciphertexts are produced even when the same plaintext is encrypted multiple times independently with the same key. Block ciphers may be capable of operating on more than one block size, but during transformation the block size is always fixed. Block cipher modes operate on whole...

Read on Wikipedia · Image A.M. Rowsell and Epachamo, CC BY-SA 4.0