Rivest Cipher (RC4)

RC4 is a type of encryption algorithm that scrambles data to keep it secure during transmission. It operates by generating a pseudo-random sequence of bytes using a secret key, then combining this sequence with the data to make it unreadable to anyone without the key. RC4 is fast and simple, making it popular for securing internet communications and data. However, due to discovered vulnerabilities, it’s now considered less secure compared to newer encryption methods and is often replaced by more robust algorithms.