Abstract: The disclosed invention is a new cryptographic method which is fast and ideally suited for secure, high volume data communication and storage. The data is encrypted at the source using a private key and then transmitted to a destination over a secure or insecure channel. The destination can either be a local storage device or a non-local station. At the destination the data is decrypted using the same private key. The disclosed invention is a new method and apparatus for data encryption. The mathematical robustness and simplicity of this method brings a great improvement in security and speed as compared to previous block ciphers. The data block length or the key length can also be changed very easily and such changes do not require any significant redesigns in the components of the cipher. This is a significant advantage over previous block ciphers, where extensive modifications are needed if the key or the data block length is to be altered, if this is even feasible.