Users need to exchange a shared secret to begin communicating securely. Which of the following is another name for this symmetric key?

A session key is a short-lived symmetric key that both communicating parties share to encrypt and decrypt data during a session, providing confidentiality for that specific exchange. Symmetric keys are computationally efficient for bulk data encryption compared to asymmetric algorithms. Session keys are often established using asymmetric key exchange mechanisms such as RSA or Diffie-Hellman, then used for symmetric encryption like AES for the rest of the session.

A public key is part of an asymmetric key pair and is shared openly, used to encrypt data or verify signatures, but it is not a shared secret used for symmetric encryption.

A private key is the secret component of an asymmetric key pair kept only by its owner, used for decryption or signing, not for establishing a shared symmetric session.

A digital signature is a cryptographic value produced by signing data with a private key to prove authenticity and integrity, not a key used for encrypting session traffic.