Exam CAS-004 topic 1 question 256 discussion

The cryptographic technique that can be used to ensure the security policy is being enforced properly is HMAC_SHA256. It is a type of message authentication code (MAC) that is computed using a cryptographic hash function in combination with a secret key. HMAC_SHA256 can be used to verify the integrity and authenticity of a message and to ensure that the connection remains private. It is commonly used in secure communication protocols such as TLS/SSL. Option A (MD5-based envelope method) is not a commonly used cryptographic technique and is not a suitable choice for ensuring the security policy. Option C (PBKDF2) is a key derivation function used to derive a cryptographic key from a password. It is not suitable for ensuring the integrity and authenticity of packets exchanged between two parties. Option D (PGP) is a public key encryption program used to encrypt and decrypt files and emails. While it provides a level of security, it is not the best choice for verifying the integrity and authenticity of packets exchanged between two parties.

HMAC-SHA256 offers several advantages over other signature calculation methods. Firstly, it provides a high level of security due to the strength of the SHA-256 hash function. It is practically impossible to reverse-engineer the original message from its hash value.

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PGP uses encryption and integrity mechanisms