Symmetric Algorithms

Symmetric Algorithms use the same key to encrypt and decrypt the message (see CryptographY/Keys for details). They can be divided into stream CipheR's and block CipheR's. The former encrypts the bits of the plaintext one at a time, while the former takes a number of bits and encrypts them as a a single unit. Normally blocks of 64 bits are used. Symmetric Algorithms are faster to execute electronically than Asymmetric Algorithms.