Editing Padding (cryptography) (section)

{{Short description|Adding data to a message prior to encryption to hide its length}}
{{About|cryptography|other uses of the term|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''.