Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) Practice Exam

The act of changing readable text into a vast series of "garbled" characters using complex mathematical algorithms is called...

1. Decryption

2. Encoding

3. Encryption

4. Output obfuscation

The correct answer is: Encryption

The process of changing readable text into a series of unintelligible characters through the use of complex mathematical algorithms is known as encryption. This technique is essential for protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access. Encryption transforms plaintext, which is the original readable data, into ciphertext, which appears as garbled characters. The security of encrypted data relies on algorithms and keys used during the encryption process; only those with the correct key can decrypt the information back into its original state. This is a fundamental practice in the realm of information security, particularly in protecting personal health information under HIPAA regulations. The other options refer to different processes: decryption is the reverse process of converting ciphertext back into readable text, encoding is the conversion of information into a different format for storage or transmission without necessarily hiding it, and output obfuscation refers to techniques used to make output data less understandable rather than altering the data itself through encryption. Each serves its own purpose but does not relate directly to the process of making text unreadable through encryption.