Definition

1. Noun:
   • The science or process of analyzing and deciphering codes, ciphers, and cryptograms: Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information without access to the secret key that is normally required for decryption.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Modern cryptanalysis requires a deep understanding of mathematics and computer science.
  • The intelligence agency employed a team of experts in cryptanalysis to break the enemy's coded messages.
  • Her thesis focused on the history of cryptanalysis during World War II.

Advanced Usage

• "To perform cryptanalysis on something": To subject a code or cipher to analytical techniques.
  • The researchers performed cryptanalysis on the newly discovered encrypted manuscript.
• "Resistant to cryptanalysis": Describing a cipher that is designed to be very difficult or impossible to break.
  • The new encryption algorithm is believed to be highly resistant to cryptanalysis.

Variants and Related Words

• Cryptanalyst (n): A person who practices cryptanalysis.
  • Alan Turing was a brilliant cryptanalyst.
• Cryptanalytic (adj): Relating to cryptanalysis.
  • The paper discussed various cryptanalytic techniques.
• Cryptology (n): The broader study of codes and ciphers, encompassing both their creation (cryptography) and breaking (cryptanalysis).
  • Cryptology includes the twin fields of cryptography and cryptanalysis.

Synonyms

• Codebreaking: The act or process of deciphering codes.
• Cryptography (Note: This is often a complementary field, but in some contexts, it can be used loosely as a synonym for the entire field, which includes analysis).

Related Phrases

• Cryptographic attack: A method used in cryptanalysis to find a weakness in a cryptographic system.
  • A brute-force attack is a basic type of cryptographic attack.
• Ciphertext-only attack: A common scenario in cryptanalysis where the analyst has only the encrypted message to work with.

Noun

1. the science of analyzing and deciphering codes and ciphers and cryptograms