Cryptographic algorithms are mathematical procedures used to secure information by transforming it into a format that is unreadable to unauthorized users. These algorithms play a crucial role in protecting data during transmission and storage, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity. Common types include symmetric algorithms, where the same key is used for both encryption and decryption, and asymmetric algorithms, which use a pair of keys—one public and one private. Examples of widely used cryptographic algorithms include AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) for symmetric encryption and RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) for asymmetric encryption. These algorithms are foundational to various security protocols, such as SSL/TLS for secure web communications and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) for email encryption.