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SSCP · Question #1053

All following observations about IPSec are correct except:

The correct answer is D. Works only with Secret Key Cryptography. IPSec supports both symmetric (secret key) and asymmetric (public key) cryptography for different phases of its operation, therefore it does not work only with secret key cryptography.

Submitted by khalil_dz· Apr 18, 2026Network and Communications Security

Question

All following observations about IPSec are correct except:

Options

  • ADefault Hashing protocols are HMAC-MD5 or HMAC-SHA-1
  • BDefault Encryption protocol is Cipher Block Chaining mode DES, but other
  • CSupport two communication modes - Tunnel mode and Transport mode
  • DWorks only with Secret Key Cryptography

How the community answered

(17 responses)
  • C
    6% (1)
  • D
    94% (16)

Why each option

IPSec supports both symmetric (secret key) and asymmetric (public key) cryptography for different phases of its operation, therefore it does not work only with secret key cryptography.

ADefault Hashing protocols are HMAC-MD5 or HMAC-SHA-1

HMAC-MD5 and HMAC-SHA-1 are indeed commonly used and default hashing algorithms for IPSec for data integrity and authentication.

BDefault Encryption protocol is Cipher Block Chaining mode DES, but other

DES (in CBC mode) was a common default or supported encryption algorithm for IPSec, although more robust algorithms like AES are now preferred and widely supported. The 'but other' implies flexibility.

CSupport two communication modes - Tunnel mode and Transport mode

IPSec explicitly supports two primary communication modes: Transport mode (for end-to-end host communication) and Tunnel mode (for network-to-network or host-to-network communication via gateways).

DWorks only with Secret Key CryptographyCorrect

This statement is NOT correct. While IPSec uses symmetric (secret key) cryptography for bulk data encryption (e.g., DES, 3DES, AES), it uses asymmetric (public key) cryptography during the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) phase for establishing secure channels, authenticating peers, and negotiating shared secret keys. Therefore, IPSec does not work only with secret Key Cryptography.

Concept tested: IPSec cryptographic mechanisms

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/ipsec/ipsec-architecture

Topics

#IPSec#Network Security Protocols#Symmetric Cryptography#Asymmetric Cryptography

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