Which of the following cryptographic related browser settings allows an organization to communicate
securely?
A.
SSL 3.0/TLS 1.0
B.
3DES
C.
Trusted Sites
D.
HMAC
Explanation:
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is used to establish a secure communication connection between two TCPbased machines. Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a security protocol that expands upon SSL. Many
industry analysts predict that TLS will replace SSL in the future. TLS 1.0 was first defined in RFC 2246 in
January 1999 as an upgrade of SSL Version 3.0. As of February 2015, the latest versions of all major web
browsers support TLS 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2, have them enabled by default.
Incorrect Answers:
B: You cannot configure your browser to user 3DES. Triple DES (3DES) is a symmetric-key block cipher,
which applies the Data Encryption Standard (DES) cipher algorithm three times to each data block.
C: You can configure trusted sites in your browser. This sets the level of security of that site. This would
not guarantee secure communication, however.
D: You cannot configure your browser to use HMAC to secure communication.
A keyed-hash message authentication code (HMAC) is a specific construction for calculating a message
authentication code (MAC) involving a cryptographic hash function in combination with a secret
cryptographic key. As with any MAC, it may be used to simultaneously verify both the data integrity and
the authentication of a message.
Dulaney, Emmett and Chuck Eastton, CompTIA Security+ Study Guide, 6th Edition, Sybex, Indianapolis,
2014, pp. 139, 250, 260, 268