Cryptography involves encrypting data to hide its meaning. Encryption converts plain text into unintelligible cipher text using an algorithm and a key, while decryption reconverts the cipher text into plain text. Symmetric key cryptography uses the same key for encryption and decryption, while asymmetric key cryptography uses different public and private keys. AES is a modern block cipher standard that uses 128, 192, or 256-bit keys and a 128-bit block size, providing stronger security than the older DES standard with its 56-bit key and 64-bit block size. AES encryption is considered very secure due to the huge number of possible keys.