What is defined as any method of encrypting data by concealing its readability and meaning?

The concept being described involves a process that alters data such that it cannot be easily read or understood without the appropriate decryption methods, thus ensuring its confidentiality and integrity. A cipher is a mathematical algorithm used for encryption and decryption of data. It takes plaintext (readable data) and transforms it into ciphertext (encrypted data) through a specific process involving keys. This method of encryption secures data by making it unreadable to unauthorized users, who would need to decode it using the cipher’s specific decryption mechanism and key.

In contrast to the cipher, other methods mentioned have different purposes. Hashing is used primarily for verifying data integrity rather than encryption; it generates a fixed-size string of characters from input data but cannot be reversed to retrieve the original data. Tokenization substitutes sensitive data with non-sensitive tokens that can be mapped back to the original data when necessary, but it does not encrypt the data per se. Obfuscation refers to making something obscure or unintelligible, which can involve techniques that disguise data to prevent easy understanding, but it does not specifically address the secure transformation that a cipher achieves in the context of encryption.