cryptographic nonce

A Cryptographic Nonce is a number used in cryptographic procedures. Nonce stands for something that is used for an instantaneous purpose.

Incryptography, nonce values are added to encrypted data to make the encryption more secure and to disguise repetitive data sequences. This makes it extremely difficult for attackers to find repeating patterns. Nonce values are used in hash functions, in authentication where nonce values can be used to secure online purchases, in asymmetric encryption and in electronic signatures where nonce values can be used as private keys.