Security and Encryption Buzz words

Encryption systems generally belong to one of the below 2 categories.

Symmetric-key encryption

Same key is used for encryption and decryption

Public-key encryption

Also called as Asymmetric-key encryption. Public and private key pairs are used for encryption and decryption. As the name implies public key is shared and private key is kept as a secret. 

Data Encryption Standard (DES)

First major/popular symmetric key algorithm. Uses 56 bit key. This is too week for modern computer systems. So it is no longer considered secure.

Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)

Replacement for DES as it uses upto 256 bit keys. It is generally believed that this is a secure enough system for near future.

Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)

Very popular encryption program that implements public-key encryption

GNU Privacy Guard (GPG)

Another popular encryption program that implements public-key encryption. Both PGP and GPG are interchangeable i.e. the text that is encrypted in PGP can be decrypted using GPG with correct key and vice versa. Only licencing terms seems to be difference between PGP and GPG.

Secured Socket Layer (SSL)

Cryptographic protocol that provides secure communication between computers, typically a client and server.

Secure Shell (SSH)

A standard to connect to the remote computer over a network in a secured way. There are multiple implementations with openssh being the most popular one.

Transport Layer Security (TLS)

Successor of SSL.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

Security algorithm for wireless networks. This is now considered to be weak and since been replaced by WPA.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)

WPA and WPA2 are two security protocols developed to secure wireless computer networks. This is considered to be strong and recommended for personal/home networks