Which of the following methods of encryption uses a single key to encrypt and decrypt data?

The correct answer is B. Symmetric. Symmetric encryption uses a single shared key for both encrypting and decrypting data, making it fast and efficient for bulk data transfer (AES is a common example). Asymmetric encryption (A) uses a pair of keys - a public key to encrypt and a private key to decrypt - so it's the

Security Architecture Modeling

Question

Options

AAsymmetric
BSymmetric
CS/MIME
DPGP

How the community answered

(37 responses)

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

Explanation

Symmetric encryption uses a single shared key for both encrypting and decrypting data, making it fast and efficient for bulk data transfer (AES is a common example). Asymmetric encryption (A) uses a pair of keys - a public key to encrypt and a private key to decrypt - so it's the opposite of what's described. S/MIME (C) and PGP (D) are both email encryption standards that actually use asymmetric (and symmetric) techniques underneath, but they are protocols/standards, not encryption methods themselves.

Memory tip: Think "symmetric = same" - one key, used the same way in both directions, just like symmetrical shapes look the same on both sides.

Topics

#Symmetric encryption#Encryption keys#Cryptographic algorithms

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