Which protocol secures a connection to transfer information and uses digital certs to authenticate the server?

Which protocol secures a connection to transfer information and uses digital certs to authenticate the server?

• A. SSL
• B. HTTPS
• C. SSH
• D. PGP

Answer: (B)

HTTPS is the secure web protocol that protects data in transit by wrapping HTTP in TLS/SSL and uses digital certificates to authenticate the server. During the TLS/SSL handshake, the server presents its certificate, which the client verifies against trusted authorities to confirm the server’s identity. Once trusted, the session is encrypted, ensuring both confidentiality and integrity of the information exchanged. This combination—server authentication via certificates and encrypted data transfer—is what defines HTTPS. SSH relies on its own key-based authentication and isn’t used for securing web traffic with server certificates, while PGP is for end-to-end email or file encryption rather than authenticating a server in a web session. SSL describes the security layer itself, but the secure web transfer with server certificate authentication is HTTPS.

HTTPS is the secure web protocol that protects data in transit by wrapping HTTP in TLS/SSL and uses digital certificates to authenticate the server. During the TLS/SSL handshake, the server presents its certificate, which the client verifies against trusted authorities to confirm the server’s identity. Once trusted, the session is encrypted, ensuring both confidentiality and integrity of the information exchanged. This combination—server authentication via certificates and encrypted data transfer—is what defines HTTPS. SSH relies on its own key-based authentication and isn’t used for securing web traffic with server certificates, while PGP is for end-to-end email or file encryption rather than authenticating a server in a web session. SSL describes the security layer itself, but the secure web transfer with server certificate authentication is HTTPS.