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key definition - telecom
  1. A small mechanical device for opening, closing, or switching electrical circuits. A telegraph key, for example, is used to open and close an electrical circuit to send short and long pulses of electric current. See also keyboard, keypad, and KTS.
  2. A string of bits used for encrypting and decrypting information. A private key is known to only one person, typically the sender. A public key is known to more than one person, typically both the sender and the receiver, and is published and freely available from a public key infrastructure (PKI) or certificate authority (CA). See also CA, encryption, PKI, private key encryption, and public key encryption.

Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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