Electronic Codebook Book (ECB) encrypts each message block independently without chaining blocks together. This can reveal patterns in the ciphertext if the plaintext has repetitive blocks. Cipher Block Chaining (CBC) chains blocks together by XORing the previous ciphertext block with the current plaintext block before encryption. Counter (CTR) mode encrypts a counter value rather than feedback from previous blocks, allowing parallel encryption. These modes of operation can be used to encrypt data blocks securely depending on needs such as bulk encryption or streaming data.