Encryption primarily provides which protective measure?

Encryption primarily provides which protective measure?

• A. Data integrity
• B. Data availability
• C. Privacy
• D. Data confidentiality

Answer: (D)

Encryption keeps information secret by turning readable data into an unreadable form that only someone with the correct key can decipher. This directly protects data confidentiality—the data is not readable to unauthorized users, whether it’s stored or transmitted. Privacy is related, but the concrete protective outcome of encryption is confidentiality. Data integrity (ensuring data hasn’t been altered) requires other mechanisms like hashes or MACs, and authenticated encryption for both confidentiality and integrity. Data availability (being able to access the data when needed) isn’t provided by encryption itself and can even be impacted if keys are lost.

Encryption keeps information secret by turning readable data into an unreadable form that only someone with the correct key can decipher. This directly protects data confidentiality—the data is not readable to unauthorized users, whether it’s stored or transmitted. Privacy is related, but the concrete protective outcome of encryption is confidentiality. Data integrity (ensuring data hasn’t been altered) requires other mechanisms like hashes or MACs, and authenticated encryption for both confidentiality and integrity. Data availability (being able to access the data when needed) isn’t provided by encryption itself and can even be impacted if keys are lost.