A family of encryption algorithms belonging to RSA Security LLC. There currently exist six versions of the cipher, the most well-known of which are the last three releases: RC4, RC5, and RC6. All the algorithms were developed by Ronald Rivest, and RC stands for Ron’s Code or Rivest’s Cipher. Most of the algorithms in this family use the block encryption method, while RC4 uses the stream method.
The fourth version of the algorithm is one of the most common stream ciphers in the world. It has been used in several versions of the SSL and TLS protocols, as well as in the WEP and WPA wireless security standards.