What does the process of encryption primarily aim to achieve?

The primary aim of encryption is to ensure data confidentiality. By converting data into a coded format that can only be deciphered by those who possess the appropriate decryption key, encryption protects sensitive information from unauthorized access. This is crucial in various scenarios, such as protecting personal data, financial transactions, and confidential communications.

In the context of security, confidentiality is a foundational principle, as it ensures that even if data is intercepted or accessed, it remains unreadable to those without the necessary permissions. The methods of encryption vary, but their core objective remains focused on safeguarding the integrity and privacy of the data being transmitted or stored.

The other options, while potentially relevant in certain contexts, do not capture the fundamental purpose of encryption. For instance, improving system performance is not about encryption itself but pertains to optimizing how systems operate. Facilitating easier data recovery typically relates to backup strategies rather than encryption, which can sometimes complicate recovery procedures due to the need for decryption. Reducing data size may be a goal of compression techniques rather than encryption, which often increases data size due to the additional information needed to enable decoding. Thus, ensuring data confidentiality stands out as the primary goal of encryption.