Which technology is designed to shield payloads by encrypting them in transit?

• A. IPsec VPN
• B. HTTPS/TLS encryption
• C. Tor
• D. SSH

Answer: (B)

The main idea is protecting data as it moves across the network by encrypting the actual payload. HTTPS uses TLS to wrap HTTP traffic in an encrypted channel, so the HTTP request and response bodies—the payload—are unreadable to anyone who intercepts the packets. TLS also authenticates the server, helping prevent man-in-the-middle tampering.

Other technologies do encryption too, but their primary use cases differ. IPsec VPN protects all traffic between endpoints or networks at the IP layer, not specifically the web session payload, and is more about securing broader network paths. Tor focuses on anonymity by routing traffic through multiple relays, and its guarantees depend on the network path and exit nodes, not simply on end-to-end payload encryption for web traffic. SSH secures remote access and file transfers, but it’s aimed at encrypting a session between a client and a server, not the general shielding of web payloads in transit.

So, for shielding web traffic payloads in transit, TLS with HTTPS is the best fit.