In cryptography, Triple DES is the common name for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (TDEA or Triple DEA) block cipher, which applies the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher algorithm three times to each data block.
The original DES cipher's key size of 56 bits was generally sufficient when that algorithm was designed, but the availability of increasing computational power made brute-force attacks feasible. Triple DES provides a relatively simple method of increasing the key size of DES to protect against such attacks, without the need to design a completely new block cipher algorithm.
Read more about Triple DES: Definitive Standards, Name of The Algorithm, Algorithm, Keying Options, Encryption of More Than One Block, Security, Usage
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