A security engineer has been asked to deploy a secure remote access solution that will allow employees to connect to the company's internal network. Which of the following can be implemented to minimi

Basic SSL authenticates only the server to the client by default; without mandatory client certificate validation it does not perform mutual authentication, leaving the client side open to server impersonation attacks.

Mutual authentication is a feature or mechanism, not a deployable remote access solution; implementing it alone without accompanying encryption and integrity protection still leaves intercepted data readable by an attacker.

IPSec's Internet Key Exchange (IKE) protocol performs mutual authentication - both the client and the VPN gateway must prove their identity using certificates or pre-shared keys before the tunnel is established, eliminating the opportunity for an attacker to impersonate either endpoint. Beyond authentication, IPSec's Authentication Header (AH) and Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) provide cryptographic integrity and confidentiality for all traffic in the tunnel, ensuring that any in-transit tampering is detected and rejected. This combination of mutual authentication plus data integrity makes IPSec a comprehensive defense against MITM.

Static IP addresses affect routing and address assignment only; they provide no authentication, encryption, or integrity mechanisms and do not prevent an attacker from intercepting or spoofing traffic on the network path.