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SY0-501 · Question #369

A user needs to send sensitive information to a colleague using PKI. Which of the following concepts apply when a sender encrypts the message hash with the sender's private key? (Select TWO)

The correct answer is A. Non-repudiation E. Message integrity. When a sender encrypts a message's hash with their private key, they are creating a digital signature, which primarily provides both non-repudiation and message integrity for the communication.

Submitted by suresh_in· Mar 4, 2026General security concepts

Question

A user needs to send sensitive information to a colleague using PKI. Which of the following concepts apply when a sender encrypts the message hash with the sender's private key? (Select TWO)

Options

  • ANon-repudiation
  • BEmail content encryption
  • CSteganography
  • DTransport security
  • EMessage integrity

How the community answered

(19 responses)
  • A
    74% (14)
  • B
    5% (1)
  • C
    5% (1)
  • D
    16% (3)

Why each option

When a sender encrypts a message's hash with their private key, they are creating a digital signature, which primarily provides both non-repudiation and message integrity for the communication.

ANon-repudiationCorrect

Non-repudiation is ensured because only the sender possesses their private key, making them the sole entity capable of creating that specific digital signature, thereby preventing them from falsely denying the transmission of the message.

BEmail content encryption

Encrypting the message hash with the sender's private key is for creating a digital signature to ensure authenticity and integrity, not for encrypting the email's content for confidentiality, which typically uses the recipient's public key.

CSteganography

Steganography involves hiding a secret message within another non-secret message or data, which is unrelated to the cryptographic process of digitally signing a message hash.

DTransport security

Transport security focuses on protecting data in transit over a network connection (e.g., using TLS), whereas encrypting a message hash with a private key addresses message-level authentication and integrity, independent of the transport layer.

EMessage integrityCorrect

Message integrity is guaranteed as any alteration to the original message would result in a different hash value; the recipient's verification process would reveal a mismatch between their calculated hash and the decrypted hash from the signature, indicating tampering.

Concept tested: Digital signatures, non-repudiation, message integrity

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/seccrypto/digital-signatures

Topics

#PKI#digital signatures#non-repudiation#message integrity

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