THREAT‑WATCH
Glossary
Encryption
The process of converting data into a coded form that can only be read by someone with the correct decryption key.
Encryption protects data both at rest (stored on disk) and in transit (moving across a network), so that even if an attacker intercepts or steals it, the data itself remains unreadable without the key. Strong encryption is a baseline expectation under NIS2, GDPR, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS alike, and is one of the few controls that can render a stolen dataset effectively worthless to an attacker.