100-160 Question 41
Single answerA company wants to ensure the confidentiality of sensitive customer data stored in its database. Which encryption method should be used to secure the data at rest, and why?
- A
Use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with a 256-bit key for data encryption.
- B
Use MD5 (Message Digest 5) to hash the data for confidentiality.
- C
Use RSA (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman) with a 1024-bit key to encrypt the database.
- D
Use DES (Data Encryption Standard) for faster encryption and decryption.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Data at rest requires strong encryption for confidentiality. AES with a 256-bit key is a secure and efficient symmetric encryption algorithm, suitable for encrypting large amounts of data such as databases. Other options like MD5 and RSA are either not designed for this purpose or are less efficient. DES is no longer considered secure, making AES-256 the best choice.
- A. Correct.
AES with a 256-bit key is a strong symmetric encryption method, widely used for securing data at rest due to its balance of security and performance.
- B. Incorrect.
MD5 is a hashing algorithm, not an encryption method, and does not provide confidentiality as it is primarily used for data integrity verification.
- C. Incorrect.
RSA is an asymmetric encryption algorithm primarily used for encrypting small amounts of data or for key exchange, not for encrypting large databases efficiently.
- D. Incorrect.
DES is an outdated and weak encryption algorithm that is susceptible to brute force attacks and is not recommended for securing sensitive data.