{ "model": { "rank": 4550, "code": "thing-q141090", "model_id": "vr.tr.encryption", "name": "encryption", "purpose": "Let an agent explain encryption conceptually, relay types, standards, history and policy debates from cryptography and standards sources with positions attributed, describe the named methods, recommend reputable tools and standards in general terms, and distinguish encryption from hashing, encoding, steganography and access control, without assisting unauthorised decryption.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Activities and processes", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "ACT", "domain": "ACT.ACT", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q141090/", "tier": 2, "score": 74, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [ "two-square cipher", "disk encryption", "dual-key encryption", "chaotic encryption", "email encryption", "end-to-end encryption", "authenticated encryption", "Honey Encryption", "functional encryption", "Rasterschlüssel 44", "backup encryption", "point-to-point encryption", "homomorphic encryption", "deniable encryption", "Perfect cipher", "Deterministic encryption", "Japanese naval codes", "Book cipher", "on-the-fly encryption", "ChaCha20-Poly1305", "CKKS", "fully homomorphic encryption", "JN-25" ], "aliasCount": 23, "merged": 23, "knownIn": 74, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q141090", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141090", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-13T21:27:04Z", "providers": [ "Claude" ], "breadth": "written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify", "pass": 2, "wave": 4, "engine": "claude" }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q141090", "registryId": "vr.tr.encryption", "name": "encryption", "version": "0.2.0-wave.4", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "ACT.ACT" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q141090/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.encryption", "name": "encryption", "purpose": "Let an agent explain encryption conceptually, relay types, standards, history and policy debates from cryptography and standards sources with positions attributed, describe the named methods, recommend reputable tools and standards in general terms, and distinguish encryption from hashing, encoding, steganography and access control, without assisting unauthorised decryption.", "definition": "The process of transforming information into a form unreadable without a key, to protect confidentiality, using algorithms such as the Advanced Encryption Standard, adopted in 2001, and public-key or dual-key systems such as RSA, published in 1977, applied in disk encryption, email encryption, transport security and end-to-end encryption in messaging, with historical classical ciphers such as the two-square cipher and research areas such as chaotic encryption; new post-quantum standards were published by NIST in 2024. Policy debates over lawful access and backdoors are attributed, and the model does not help defeat specific protections.", "what_it_is_for": "Protecting data confidentiality.", "affordances": [ "explain types conceptually", "relay standards and history", "describe named methods", "relay policy debates with attribution" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Keys required", "Symmetric or asymmetric", "Standards-based", "Policy contested" ], "appearance": "Not a visible object; seen as scrambled data, padlock icons and key management tools.", "visual_identification": [ "Transforming data to protect confidentiality", "Two-square cipher, disk encryption, dual-key encryption, chaotic encryption, email encryption, end-to-end encryption", "Hashing is one-way; encoding is not secret; steganography hides existence; access control restricts use" ], "physical_properties": [ { "quantity": "AES adopted", "typical_range": "2001", "unit": "year", "note": "FIPS 197" }, { "quantity": "RSA published", "typical_range": "1977", "unit": "year", "note": "" }, { "quantity": "NIST post-quantum standards", "typical_range": "2024", "unit": "year", "note": "FIPS 203, 204, 205" } ], "families_and_kinds": [ "symmetric encryption", "public-key encryption", "disk and file encryption", "transport encryption such as TLS", "end-to-end encryption", "classical ciphers" ], "related_models": [ { "relation": "is a kind of", "target": "cryptographic data processing", "why": "in registry terms" }, { "relation": "includes", "target": "Advanced Encryption Standard", "why": "" }, { "relation": "includes", "target": "end-to-end encryption", "why": "" }, { "relation": "is contrasted with", "target": "cryptographic hash function", "why": "" } ], "identifiers": [], "standards_and_regulation": [ "NIST FIPS standards", "Export controls such as the Wassenaar Arrangement", "Data protection laws requiring appropriate security" ], "failure_modes_and_hazards": [ "Home-made cryptography instead of vetted standards", "Key loss making data unrecoverable", "Requests to break specific protections, which are out of scope" ], "in_scope": [], "out_of_scope": [], "characteristics": [] }, "sources": [], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "understand", "name": "Understand", "description": "What encryption is.", "rationale": "Definition.", "layers": [ { "id": "definition", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-finding", "name": "Definition", "description": "Definition.", "questions": [ { "text": "What is encryption, and how does it differ from hashing, encoding, steganography and access control?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Is the question about protecting your own data, understanding concepts or accessing others data without authorisation, which is out of scope?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "methods", "name": "Methods", "description": "Named methods.", "findings": [ { "id": "methods-finding", "name": "Methods", "description": "Methods.", "questions": [ { "text": "What are the two-square cipher, disk, dual-key, chaotic, email and end-to-end encryption?", "kind": "definition" }, { "text": "Which entry fits the specific method?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "technical", "name": "Technical", "description": "Concepts.", "rationale": "Science.", "layers": [ { "id": "symmetric", "name": "Symmetric and public-key", "description": "Key types.", "findings": [ { "id": "symmetric-finding", "name": "Symmetric and public-key", "description": "Symmetric and public-key.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do symmetric and public-key encryption differ conceptually?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which references are standard?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "pqc", "name": "Post-quantum", "description": "Post-quantum cryptography.", "findings": [ { "id": "pqc-finding", "name": "Post-quantum", "description": "Post-quantum.", "questions": [ { "text": "Why did NIST standardise post-quantum algorithms?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which sources are cited?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "policy", "name": "Policy", "description": "Policy debates.", "rationale": "Attribution.", "layers": [ { "id": "access", "name": "Lawful access", "description": "Lawful access debates.", "findings": [ { "id": "access-finding", "name": "Lawful access", "description": "Lawful access.", "questions": [ { "text": "What do governments, security researchers and civil liberties groups argue about backdoors, with positions attributed?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Is the presentation neutral and attributed?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "exports", "name": "Exports", "description": "Export controls.", "findings": [ { "id": "exports-finding", "name": "Exports", "description": "Exports.", "questions": [ { "text": "How have export controls on cryptography changed since the crypto wars?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits crypto wars?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "context", "name": "Context", "description": "Practice and history.", "rationale": "Context.", "layers": [ { "id": "practice", "name": "Practice", "description": "Everyday use.", "findings": [ { "id": "practice-finding", "name": "Practice", "description": "Practice.", "questions": [ { "text": "How do people use full-disk encryption and end-to-end encrypted messaging in general terms?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits Signal Protocol?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] }, { "id": "history", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "findings": [ { "id": "history-finding", "name": "History", "description": "History.", "questions": [ { "text": "How did ciphers evolve from classical systems to Enigma to modern standards?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "text": "Which entry fits history of cryptography?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Should classical ciphers be separate entries?", "How should standards sources be linked?", "How should lawful access debates be presented?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 4, "layers": 8, "findings": 8, "questions": 16 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "abstract concept", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a encryption, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Let an agent explain encryption conceptually, relay types, standards, history and policy debates from cryptography and standards sources with positions attributed, describe the named methods, recommend reputable tools and standards in general terms, and distinguish encryption from hashing, encoding, steganography and access control, without assisting unauthorised decryption.", "characteristics": { "substance": "activity", "origin": "conceptual", "agency": "inert" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Names folded into this entry, which a task may need to split apart again: two-square cipher, disk encryption, dual-key encryption, chaotic encryption, email encryption, end-to-end encryption, authenticated encryption, Honey Encryption, functional encryption, Rasterschlüssel 44, backup encryption, point-to-point encryption.", "23 finer distinctions are held as aliases rather than separate entries, because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it.", "Described in 74 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a encryption, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "something that happens over time", "physicalCharacter": [ "Does nothing on its own; everything it does, something else did to it.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Nothing to see. What is recognised is an instance of it, and which instances count is exactly what is argued about." ], "relatedModels": [ { "relation": "covers", "note": "Finer kinds folded into this entry because telling them apart needs a task that asks for it. Each is a model waiting to be split out when one does.", "targets": [ "two-square cipher", "disk encryption", "dual-key encryption", "chaotic encryption", "email encryption", "end-to-end encryption", "authenticated encryption", "Honey Encryption", "functional encryption", "Rasterschlüssel 44", "backup encryption", "point-to-point encryption" ] } ], "standing": "Described in 74 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is. 23 finer distinctions are held inside this entry as names rather than as separate models.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one encryption from another, and a encryption from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a encryption sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a encryption from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a encryption passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a encryption between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a encryption, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a encryption is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "process-and-outcome", "name": "Process, inputs and outcome", "description": "How a encryption proceeds, what it needs and what it leaves behind.", "rationale": "An activity is known by its steps and its results, and both have to be recordable while it is still running.", "layers": [ { "id": "steps-and-sequence", "name": "Steps and sequence", "description": "The steps of a encryption, their order and what may run in parallel.", "findings": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions", "name": "Steps, preconditions and completion", "description": "What has to be true before each step of a encryption and what marks it done.", "questions": [ { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a step of a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a step of a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "steps-and-preconditions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a step of a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-results", "name": "Inputs, resources and results", "description": "What a encryption consumes and what it produces.", "findings": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs", "name": "Inputs, outputs and side effects", "description": "The resources a encryption takes and the results it leaves, wanted or not.", "questions": [ { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the inputs and results of a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the inputs and results of a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "inputs-and-outputs-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the inputs and results of a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "definitions-in-contest", "name": "Definitions and who holds them", "description": "What encryption is taken to mean, and by whom.", "rationale": "When a field disagrees about a concept, the disagreement is the content. A model that picks one definition silently destroys the information.", "layers": [ { "id": "competing-definitions", "name": "Competing definitions", "description": "The main readings and the traditions behind them.", "findings": [ { "id": "definition-map", "name": "Definitions and their holders", "description": "Each definition with the school or body that holds it.", "questions": [ { "id": "definition-map-q01", "text": "Which definitions of encryption are in use, and which tradition or body holds each?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "definition-map-q02", "text": "What turns on the difference between them in practice?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "operationalisation", "name": "Operationalisation", "description": "How it is measured or applied when it has to be.", "findings": [ { "id": "operational-record", "name": "Measures and proxies", "description": "Instruments and indicators used to stand in for it.", "questions": [ { "id": "operational-record-q01", "text": "How is encryption operationalised or measured in practice, and by what instrument?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "operational-record-q02", "text": "What does that operationalisation leave out, and when does that matter?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "instances-and-use", "name": "Instances, use and consequence", "description": "What counts as an instance of encryption and what follows from calling something that.", "rationale": "Applying a concept is an act with consequences, so a model must say what the label licenses and what it does not.", "layers": [ { "id": "instances", "name": "What counts as an instance", "description": "Clear cases, borderline cases and non-cases.", "findings": [ { "id": "instance-tests", "name": "Tests for an instance", "description": "What would settle whether something falls under it.", "questions": [ { "id": "instance-tests-q01", "text": "What would settle whether something is an instance of encryption?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "instance-tests-q02", "text": "Which borderline cases are argued about, and on what grounds?", "kind": "definition" } ] } ] }, { "id": "consequence", "name": "Consequence of application", "description": "Rights, duties or decisions that follow from the label.", "findings": [ { "id": "consequence-record", "name": "What the label licenses", "description": "What an agent may do once something is classified this way.", "questions": [ { "id": "consequence-record-q01", "text": "What follows practically once something is treated as encryption?", "kind": "action" }, { "id": "consequence-record-q02", "text": "What must an agent not infer from the label alone?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a encryption came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a encryption and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a encryption is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a encryption, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a encryption, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a encryption is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 12, "findings": 14, "questions": 38 } } } }