ITPEC IP October 2024 Question 32
Which of the following is an appropriate description concerning encryption of communication when a website with the URL beginning with “https://” is browsed through a PC browser?
Explanation
Both directions are encrypted — an https:// connection protects traffic from PC to server and from server to PC.
HTTPS is HTTP carried over TLS (formerly SSL). At the start, the browser and server run a handshake that verifies the server certificate and agrees on a shared session key. All data afterwards, the requests sent by the PC and the pages returned by the server, is encrypted with that key.
Answer (c)
Why not others:
- •(a) — the server's responses are encrypted too, not just what the PC sends
- •(b) — what the PC sends (form input, passwords) is encrypted too, not just the responses
- •(d) — the server decides whether HTTPS is offered, but it cannot choose one direction; an HTTPS connection always protects both
Key rule: TLS sets up one secure channel whose session key protects every message in both directions.
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