An analyst is investigating a host in the network that appears to be communicating to a command and control server on the Internet. After collecting this packet capture the analyst cannot determine…

Base64 encoding is a simple encoding scheme that makes binary data text-safe, but it is not encryption and can be easily decoded to reveal the original payload.

Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption, often referred to as SSL/TLS, encrypts the entire communication payload between the client and server, preventing an analyst from directly observing the technique or payload within a packet capture without decryption.

SHA-256 hashing is a one-way cryptographic function used for data integrity verification, not for obscuring communication content that needs to be transmitted and then revealed.

ROT13 encryption is a trivial substitution cipher that offers very weak security and would be easily deciphered, not preventing an analyst from determining the payload.