In SSL/TLS, which best describes the encryption workflow?

In SSL/TLS, which best describes the encryption workflow?

• A. Symmetric encryption encrypts entire handshake
• B. Only symmetric encryption is used
• C. A single-use symmetric key is encrypted with asymmetric encryption, and then used for session data
• D. No encryption is used

Answer: (C)

TLS protects data by first establishing a symmetric session key using public-key methods during the handshake, and then using that key to encrypt the actual traffic. In practice, the client and server either encrypt a secret with the server’s public key (RSA key exchange) or derive a shared secret through an ephemeral Diffie-Hellman exchange, and from that secret derive the symmetric keys used for the session. Those symmetric keys are what encrypt the bulk of the data exchanged after the handshake, making the data efficiently and securely protected. So the described workflow matches what TLS does: a symmetric key is established through asymmetric encryption and then used to protect the session data with symmetric encryption. It’s not accurate to claim the entire handshake is encrypted only with symmetric methods, nor that only symmetric encryption is ever used, nor that no encryption occurs at all. The essential idea—that a symmetric key is securely set up via asymmetric means and then used for the data—is the core pattern TLS follows.

TLS protects data by first establishing a symmetric session key using public-key methods during the handshake, and then using that key to encrypt the actual traffic. In practice, the client and server either encrypt a secret with the server’s public key (RSA key exchange) or derive a shared secret through an ephemeral Diffie-Hellman exchange, and from that secret derive the symmetric keys used for the session. Those symmetric keys are what encrypt the bulk of the data exchanged after the handshake, making the data efficiently and securely protected.

So the described workflow matches what TLS does: a symmetric key is established through asymmetric encryption and then used to protect the session data with symmetric encryption. It’s not accurate to claim the entire handshake is encrypted only with symmetric methods, nor that only symmetric encryption is ever used, nor that no encryption occurs at all. The essential idea—that a symmetric key is securely set up via asymmetric means and then used for the data—is the core pattern TLS follows.