CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501) — Question 371

A user needs to transmit confidential information to a third party.
Which of the following should be used to encrypt the message?

Answer options

• A. AES
• B. SHA-2
• C. SSL
• D. RSA

Correct answer: A

Explanation

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is a symmetric encryption algorithm that provides strong confidentiality for data transmission. SHA-2 is a hashing algorithm, not used for encryption, while SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a protocol for securing connections but does not encrypt messages by itself. RSA is an asymmetric encryption method, mainly used for key exchange rather than encrypting the entire message.