Which mechanism is widely used to secure web communications by encrypting both request and response data?

• A. IPsec VPN
• B. DNSSEC
• C. HTTPS/TLS encryption
• D. SMTP

Answer: (C)

When securing web communications, the mechanism that encrypts the actual content exchanged between your browser and the server is HTTPS using TLS. During a TLS handshake, the server presents a certificate and they agree on session keys, creating an encrypted channel. Once established, both the browser’s requests and the server’s responses travel inside that encrypted channel, so neither side’s data can be read or tampered with by outsiders. TLS also provides authentication, helping you verify you’re talking to the legitimate server.

Other options aren’t about encrypting typical web traffic. IPsec VPN encrypts at the network layer and tends to wrap all traffic inside a VPN tunnel, which is not how standard web sessions operate. DNSSEC protects the integrity of DNS responses rather than encrypting the actual web content. SMTP is a mail protocol and has no role in securing web page requests or responses.