Question

You want to send a file to a coworker named Maria. You do not want to protect the file contents from being viewed; however, when Maria receives the file, you want her to be able to determine whether the contents of the file were altered during transit. Which protective measure should you use?

A) Digital signature
B) Digital certificate
C) Symmetric encryption
D) Asymmetric encryption

Answer 1

To ensure the integrity of the file and enable your coworker Maria to determine if the contents were altered during transit, you should use digital signatures.

Step-by-step explanation:

If you want to send a file to your coworker Maria and ensure that she can determine whether the contents of the file were altered during transit, you should use digital signatures.

Digital signatures are a cryptographic mechanism that provide data integrity by creating a unique identifier (a digital signature) for a file that is unique to both the file and the sender. It is generated using a private key and can be verified by the recipient using the sender's public key. If the file is altered during transit, the digital signature will no longer match the contents and the recipient will be alerted to the tampering.

With digital signatures, Maria will be able to verify the authenticity and integrity of the file, ensuring that its contents have not been tampered with.