A stream cipher is a form of symmetric encryption that protects data by processing it in a continuous flow, usually one bit or one byte at a time.

Instead of working with large, fixed‑size blocks of data, a stream cipher generates a keystream—a long sequence of pseudorandom bits—derived from a secret key and sometimes an initialization vector (IV).

Each piece of plaintext is combined with the corresponding piece of the keystream, most commonly using the XOR operation, to produce ciphertext.

Because stream ciphers operate on data as it arrives, they offer very low latency and high speed, making them ideal for real‑time or bandwidth‑sensitive applications.

They are commonly used in environments where data is transmitted continuously, such as secure voice calls, video streams, wireless communication, and network protocols.

The security of a stream cipher depends heavily on the unpredictability and uniqueness of its keystream; reusing the same keystream with different messages can completely compromise confidentiality.

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