The initialization vectors are part of a larger process known as cipher block chaining, or CBC. Within this methodology, multiple loops of encryption are created in order to further totally scramble the ciphertext.
Here is the how the process works:
The Initialization Vector is created first
Through a mathematical process known as XOR (which stands for exclusive OR and is used quite frequently to determine if the bits of two strings of data match or not), the first created Initialization Vector is XOR’d with the first block of ciphertext data
The first chunk of data which has been XOR’d is further broken down by another layer of encryption
This process is then continued until all of the blocks of ciphertext have been XOR’d and enveloped with another layer of encryption
This is how cipher block chaining gets its title. For instance, steps 1-4 create the first loop or chain; the second loop or chain is then next initiated, and so on, until the ciphertext has been fully analyzed and encrypted by this methodology.
