====== Plaintext ======
[[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:start| Return to Glossary ]]

**Plaintext** is intelligible data that has meaning and can be understood without the application of decryption((
Elaine Barker,
NIST,
__Recommendation for Key Management: Part 1 - General__,
NIST Special Publication 800-57 Part 1, Revision 5,
May 2020,
Accessed 18 January 2022,
[[https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-57pt1r5.pdf]]
)).

**Plaintext**  is usually ordinary readable text before it is [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:e:encryption | Encrypted]] into ciphertext, or readable text after it is [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:d:decryption | Decrypted]].

Data input to or output from [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:e:encryption_algorithm | Encryption Algorithms]] is not always **Plaintext**. For example, when data is super-encrypted, or encrypted more than once using different Encryption Algorithms, only the input to the first encryption method is considered **Plaintext**.

  : **Note:** there is difference between **Plaintext** and [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:c:cleartext]].

Also see: [[dido:public:ra:xapend:xapend.a_glossary:c:ciphertext]]


Source: [[https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/plaintext ]]


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