Which technology is used to protect data in transit for secure web pages?

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

Answer: (B)

Protecting data in transit for secure web pages is achieved by TLS encryption used with HTTPS. When you connect to a secure site, the browser and server perform a TLS handshake, during which the server presents a certificate and the client verifies it. They then negotiate a session key and switch to symmetric encryption for the actual data. This means the HTTP requests and responses are encrypted and protected against eavesdropping and tampering, with authentication that the server is legitimate. The result is a URL that starts with https:// and a padlock indicator in the browser, signaling a secure connection.

Plain HTTP has no encryption, so data can be read or altered in transit. SSH is for secure remote access to systems, not for web page transport. IPsec VPN can protect network traffic at the IP layer, which is more about securing all traffic to a network, not the standard method for securing individual web pages in a browser.