SY0-301 · Question #445
Which of the following encrypts data a single bit at a time?
The correct answer is A. Stream cipher. Stream ciphers encrypt data one bit or one byte at a time by XOR-ing a continuous keystream with the plaintext, in contrast to block ciphers which operate on fixed-size chunks of data.
Question
Which of the following encrypts data a single bit at a time?
Options
- AStream cipher
- BSteganography
- C3DES
- DHashing
How the community answered
(30 responses)- A87% (26)
- B3% (1)
- C7% (2)
- D3% (1)
Why each option
Stream ciphers encrypt data one bit or one byte at a time by XOR-ing a continuous keystream with the plaintext, in contrast to block ciphers which operate on fixed-size chunks of data.
A stream cipher generates a pseudorandom keystream and applies it to plaintext one bit at a time using an XOR operation, making it well suited for real-time or continuous data encryption where block-size alignment is impractical.
Steganography conceals the existence of data within another file and is not a cipher or encryption process that operates on individual bits.
3DES is a symmetric block cipher that encrypts data in 64-bit blocks by applying DES three times, not bit-by-bit.
Hashing is a one-way function that produces a fixed-length digest and is not an encryption mechanism that processes data bit by bit.
Concept tested: Stream cipher vs block cipher operation
Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/stream_cipher
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