Which of the following techniques can be used by an administrator while working with the symmetric encryption cryptography? Each correct answer represents a complete solution. Choose all that apply.

Question

Options

• ABlock cipher
• BStream cipher
• CTransposition cipher
• DMessage Authentication Code

• A
  80% (20)
• C
  20% (5)

Explanation

Symmetric encryption cryptography uses a single shared key for both encryption and decryption, and block ciphers (A) and stream ciphers (B) are the two primary modern symmetric encryption mechanisms - block ciphers (e.g., AES, DES) process fixed-size chunks of data, while stream ciphers (e.g., RC4, ChaCha20) encrypt data one bit or byte at a time. Message Authentication Codes (D) also belong to the symmetric key family, using a shared secret to generate an integrity-verifying tag, making them a legitimate symmetric cryptographic tool for administrators.

Transposition cipher (C) is the distractor - while it's a classical cipher that rearranges character positions, it is a historical/pre-modern technique not considered a practical symmetric encryption mechanism used by administrators in contemporary systems, and it provides no meaningful security on its own.

Memory tip: Think "Block, Stream, MAC = the modern symmetric stack." If you remember that MACs rely on shared secret keys (symmetric), you won't be tripped up by D. Transposition is a puzzle technique from classical cryptography, not an administrative tool.

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