CompTIA Cloud+ Practice Test

What technique makes stolen data more difficult for malicious hackers to interpret?

1. PKI

2. Obfuscation

3. Cipher

4. Symmetrical

The correct answer is: Obfuscation

Obfuscation is a technique that transforms data into a format that is intentionally difficult to understand. By altering the representation of the data without changing its underlying meaning, obfuscation effectively conceals its original intent from unauthorized users, including malicious hackers. This process can involve renaming variables, changing the structure of data, or using various transformations that make it hard to analyze the information without the proper context or knowledge. In this context, obfuscation serves as an additional layer of security, as it hampers the efforts of attackers who might capture and analyze sensitive data. Even if they gain access to the information, they would find it challenging to interpret or leverage it due to the obfuscation techniques applied. Other techniques listed, such as PKI (Public Key Infrastructure), focus on securing communications through the use of cryptographic keys, while ciphers refer to methods of transforming plaintext into ciphertext to secure information, and symmetrical refers to a type of encryption that uses the same key for encryption and decryption. While these approaches do enhance data security, they do not specifically target the interpretability of stolen data the way obfuscation does.