Correct Answer:
C. TLS.
Explanation:
The correct answer is TLS. because Transport Layer Security is the modern cryptographic protocol used exclusively to secure and encrypt HTTPS web traffic.
- Step 1 (Encryption Protocol): HTTPS is standard HTTP traffic wrapped inside a secure cryptographic layer. This layer is established entirely using the TLS protocol to protect data in transit.
- Step 2 (Deprecating SSL): While HTTPS originally used Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), SSL has been completely deprecated due to critical security vulnerabilities, making TLS the sole active standard.
- Incorrect Options:
- FTP is incorrect because File Transfer Protocol is used strictly for transferring files between networks, not for web browsing encryption.
- SMTP is incorrect because Simple Mail Transfer Protocol handles electronic mail transmission rather than web security.
- HTTP is incorrect because Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the baseline plaintext protocol that lacks any built-in security features.