Which of the following protocols provides connectionless integrity and data origin authentication of IP packets?

Question

Options

• AESP
• BAH
• CIKE
• DISAKMP

• A
  3% (1)
• B
  89% (33)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  5% (2)

Explanation

AH (Authentication Header) is the IPsec protocol specifically designed to provide connectionless integrity and data origin authentication for IP packets, as defined in RFC 4302. It computes a cryptographic hash over the IP packet (including most header fields) and attaches it as a header, allowing the receiver to verify the packet hasn't been tampered with and genuinely came from the claimed source - but it provides no confidentiality/encryption.

• ESP (Encapsulating Security Payload) is the wrong choice because its primary purpose is confidentiality (encryption); while ESP can optionally provide integrity and authentication, the protocol defined specifically for authentication-only is AH.
• IKE (Internet Key Exchange) is wrong because it handles key negotiation and security association establishment, not packet-level authentication.
• ISAKMP is wrong for the same reason - it's a framework for managing security associations and key exchange, not for authenticating data packets.

Memory tip: The word "Authentication" is literally in the name - Authentication Header. No encryption, no key exchange - just auth. If the exam question mentions integrity/authentication without confidentiality, think AH.

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