Padding (cryptography)

This article is about cryptography. For other uses of the term, see Padding (disambiguation).

In cryptography, padding is any of a number of distinct practices which all include adding data to the beginning, middle, or end of a message prior to encryption. In classical cryptography, padding may include adding nonsense phrases to a message to obscure the fact that many messages end in predictable ways, e.g. sincerely yours.