SafeNet Sentinel Developer's Manual page 257

Distributor
An entity/organization authorized by the developer to distribute the pro-
tected application along with the Sentinel Keys. They can also program
Sentinel Keys using the License Manager (stand-alone) application.
Distributor Key
The hardware key that your distributor requires to use the License Manager
(stand-alone) application. It has the capability to validate the file sent by the
developer for programming Sentinel Keys. It can also digitally sign the
license templates programmed into the Sentinel Keys.
E
ECC
Short for Elliptic Curve Cryptography. It is an alternative method for imple-
menting public key cryptography. ECC is primarily used for creating digital
signatures—signed with a private key and verified with the public key.
ECKAS is used for key exchange to create a shared secret key.
ECC uses points on an elliptic curve to derive a 163-bit public key that is
equivalent in strength to a 1024-bit RSA key. The public key is created by
agreeing on a standard generator point in an elliptic curve group (elliptic
curve mathematics is a branch of number theory) and multiplying that
point by a random number (the private key). Although the starting point
and public key are known, it is extremely difficult to backtrack and derive
the private key.
Courtesy - http://www.answers.com/
Encryption
The conversion of plain text data into a form that cannot be read by unin-
tended recipients. The encrypted data is referred to as cipher text.
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